Crime & Safety
Washington Reports Higher Gun Sales Per Capita Than Most States This Year
In the first few months of the year, gun sales in Washington landed among the top 15 across the nation.
Americans have more guns than anywhere else in the world, and gun sales in the U.S. continue to eclipse those in any other country. This is true both in terms of gun ownership by person and absolute sales. America, without question, is the gun sales and gun ownership capital of the world.
The FBI has tracked gun background checks since the 1990s, and it reports the results in its Firearms Background Check Database. Background check figures, often used as a proxy for gun sales, have risen in most years — and they have risen much faster than the American population has.
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Compared to the rest of the world, there are almost 400 million guns in the U.S — 1.2 per person — by far the most among all nations. By contrast, in Canada there are 0.34 guns per person. Gun violence levels in the U.S. are equally staggering. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were 45,041 gun deaths last year. Slightly more than half of those were suicides.
In Washington, an estimated 456,000 guns were sold from January through July 2022 based on FBI background check data. Adjusted for population, this is equal to about 60.7 firearm sales for every 1,000 people, the 13th highest gun sale rate among states.
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Compared to the same seven-month period in 2021, gun sales have picked up in Washington. An estimated 438,300 guns were sold in the state from January through July last year, 4.0% fewer than there have been this year.
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This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St., a news organization that produces real-time business commentary and data-driven reporting for state and local markets across the country.
