Texas was the state with the highest number of registered weapons in the United States in 2024, with 1,136,732 firearms. Rhode Island, on the other hand, had the least, with 4,895 registered firearms. Gun laws in the United States Gun ownership in the U.S. is protected by the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution, which allows citizens to own firearms and form a militia if necessary. Outside of the 2nd Amendment, gun laws in the U.S. vary from state to state, and gun owners are subject to the laws of the state they are currently in, not necessarily the state they live in. For example, if concealed carry is allowed in a gun owner’s state of residence but not in the state they are traveling in, the owner is subject to the law of the state they are traveling in. Civilian-owned firearms The United States is estimated to have the highest rate of civilian-owned firearms in the world, more than double that of Yemen, which has the second-highest gun ownership rate. Unfortunately, along with high gun ownership rates comes a higher number of homicides by firearm, which was about 13,529 homicides in 2023.

In the United States, gun laws vary from one state to the next; whether residents need a permit or a background check to purchase a firearm, whether residents must undergo firearm training before making this purchase, and whether residents can openly carry their guns in public is dependent upon state legislation. As of January 15, 2025, ** U.S. states required background checks and/or permits for the purchase of a handgun. A further ** states had regulations on openly carrying firearms in public; however, only California, Connecticut, Florida, and Illinois had completely prohibited open carry for all firearms. In comparison, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York prohibited open carry for handguns but either did not have regulations in place or required a permit for other types of guns. A constitutional right The Second Amendment of the Constitution, which states that citizens have the right to bear arms, has made it difficult for any gun control legislation to be passed on a national level in the United States. As a result, gun control laws in the U.S. are state-based, and often differ based on political perspectives. States with strong gun laws in place, such as Massachusetts, generally experience less gun violence, however, some states with strong gun laws, such as Maryland, continue to face high rates of gun violence, which has largely been attributed to gun trafficking activity found throughout the nation. A culture of gun owners In comparison to other high-income countries with stricter gun control laws, the United States has the highest gun homicide rate at **** gun homicides per 100,000 residents. However, despite increasing evidence that easy access to firearms, whether legal or illegal, encourages higher rates of gun violence, the United States continues to foster an environment in which owning a firearm is seen as personal freedom. Almost **** of U.S. households have reported owning at least one firearm and ** percent of registered voters in the U.S. were found to believe that it was more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, compared to ** percent who said it was more important to limit gun ownership.

This dataset looks at firearm restrictions across the USA by state. If a state has a restriction on a certain weapon than possession is prohibited or allowed only under limited exceptions, or there is a registration requirement. Surveyed Weapons: Assault weapon: A semiautomatic firearm with a large-capacity magazine and special features common to military weapons. Machine gun: (automatic firearm) A firearm that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one bullet, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. Short-barreled rifle: A rifle having one or more barrels less than 16 inches in length, and any weapon made from a rifle, whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise, if such weapon, as modified, has an overall length of less than 26 inches. Short-barreled shotgun: A shotgun having one or more barrels less than 18 inches in length, and any weapon made from a shotgun, whether altered or modified, if such weapon has an overall length of less then 26 inches. Unsafe handgun: (Saturday night special or junk gun) A handgun with a barrel length under 4 inches that is easily concealable and not effective for sporting or self defense purposes due to its poor quality of construction, inaccuracy, and lack of essential safety features. Definitions are from or adapted from Federal and State Codes (a jurisdictions laws should be consulted for specific definitions). This data comes from Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Transfers, 2005. The Survey provides an overview of the firearm check procedures in each State and State interaction with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) operated by the FBI. The report summarizes issues about State procedures, including persons prohibited from purchasing firearms, restoration of rights of purchase to prohibited persons, permits, prohibited firearms, waiting periods, fees, and appeals.

This dataset displays the participation of each state in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in the USA as of 12.31.2005. The NICS is a point-of-sale system for determining eligibility to purchase a firearm in the USA. Federal Firearms License holders are required by law to use the NICS to determine if it is legal to sell a firearm to a prospective buyer. The NICS determines if the buyer is prohibited from buying a firearm under the Gun Control Act of 1968. The NICS is applicable to sales from federally licensed dealers. Sales of firearms by private sellers are allowed to proceed without a background check unless required by state law. These regulations remain in place at gun shows, where no special leniency is granted to licensed sellers, and no additional requirements are placed upon private sellers. Each State determines the extent of its participation in the NICS process. Three basic forms of State involvement currently exist: 1. a POC requests a NICS check on all firearm transfers originating in the State; 2. a POC requests a NICS check on all handgun transfers; licensees in the State are required to contact the FBI for approval of long gun transfers; or 3. the State does not maintain a point of contact; licensees are required to contact the FBI for NICS checks on all firearm transfers originating in the State. The FBI and the POC agencies always check three major Federal databases, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the Interstate Identification Index (III), and the NICS Index. A POC may check additional State records. A check may include contacting an agency that maintains a record that the FBI or POC cannot access directly. After a search, the checking agency responds with a notice to the licensee that the transfer may proceed, may not proceed, or is delayed pending further review of the applicant's record. Other notes: State forbids pawning a handgun = AL, IN, MA, MI, NJ (all firearms), NH, PA

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed. The study constructed a comprehensive, longitudinal dataset of all counties nested within U.S. States from 1970 to 2012. The study's main purpose was to facilitate research that would further understanding on firearm legislation and its impacts on violence. This comprehensive data collection effort included information on firearm legislation implemented across U.S. States over time in combination with multiple measures of firearm-related violence and injury. Moreover, to better understand the conditions under which firearm legislation is more or less effective, incorporation of county characteristics allowed for examination of whether the effectiveness of state-level firearm legislation depends upon particular characteristics of counties. The researchers conducted a secondary analysis utilizing a variety of archived external government and census sources. The Study's Dataset Include two Stata Files: CJRC_firearms_research.dta (95 Variables, 129,027 Cases) state_law_data.dta (19 Variables, 2,168 Cases)

The share of American households owning at least one firearm has remained relatively steady since 1972, hovering between ** percent and ** percent. In 2024, about ** percent of U.S. households had at least one gun in their possession. Additional information on firearms in the United States Firearms command a higher degree of cultural significance in the United States than any other country in the world. Since the inclusion of the right to bear arms in the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, firearms have held symbolic power beyond their already obvious material power. Despite many Americans being proud gun-owners, a large movement exists within the country in opposition to the freedom afforded to those in possession of these potentially deadly weapons. Those opposed to current gun regulation have sourced their anger from the large number of deaths due to firearms in the country, as well as the high frequency of gun violence apparent in comparison to other developed countries. Furthermore, the United States has fallen victim to a number of mass shootings in the last two decades, most of which have raised questions over the ease at which a person can obtain a firearm. Although this movement holds a significant position in the public political discourse of the United States, meaningful change regarding the legislation dictating the ownership of firearms has not occurred. Critics have pointed to the influence possessed by the National Rifle Association through their lobbying of public officials. The National Rifle Association also lobbies for the interests of firearm manufacturing in the United States, which has continued to rise since a fall in the early 2000s.

This dataset looks at age and juvenile offender status as a means of restricting the purchase and possession of firearms in the USA as of 12.31.2005. This data displays the minimum age you must be to purchase/possess a handgun or a long gun in every state in the USA. It also displays if a state restricts juvenile offenders from purchasing/possessing a firearm, handguns or long guns. Also provided in the data is the statute within the States legislation that states the firearm purchase/possession restriction. Handgun: A firearm that has a short stock and is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand, such as a pistol or revolver. Long gun: A firearm with a barrel extended to around 30 inches to improve accuracy and range, and commonly with a shoulder butt, designed to be fired with two hands, such as a rifle or shotgun. This data comes from Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Transfers, 2005. The Survey provides an overview of the firearm check procedures in each State and State interaction with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) operated by the FBI. The report summarizes issues about State procedures, including persons prohibited from purchasing firearms, restoration of rights of purchase to prohibited persons, permits, prohibited firearms, waiting periods, fees, and appeals. Supplemental tables contain data on 2005 applications to purchase firearms and rejections, as well as tabular presentations of State-by-State responses. This is one of a series of reports published from the BJS Firearm Inquiry Statistics (FIST) project, managed under the BJS National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). This is a web only document.

THIS DATASET WAS LAST UPDATED AT 8:11 AM EASTERN ON SEPT. 22

OVERVIEW

2019 had the most mass killings since at least the 1970s, according to the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings Database.

In all, there were 45 mass killings, defined as when four or more people are killed excluding the perpetrator. Of those, 33 were mass shootings . This summer was especially violent, with three high-profile public mass shootings occurring in the span of just four weeks, leaving 38 killed and 66 injured.

A total of 229 people died in mass killings in 2019.

The AP's analysis found that more than 50% of the incidents were family annihilations, which is similar to prior years. Although they are far less common, the 9 public mass shootings during the year were the most deadly type of mass murder, resulting in 73 people's deaths, not including the assailants.

One-third of the offenders died at the scene of the killing or soon after, half from suicides.

About this Dataset

The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings database tracks all U.S. homicides since 2006 involving four or more people killed (not including the offender) over a short period of time (24 hours) regardless of weapon, location, victim-offender relationship or motive. The database includes information on these and other characteristics concerning the incidents, offenders, and victims.

The AP/USA TODAY/Northeastern database represents the most complete tracking of mass murders by the above definition currently available. Other efforts, such as the Gun Violence Archive or Everytown for Gun Safety may include events that do not meet our criteria, but a review of these sites and others indicates that this database contains every event that matches the definition, including some not tracked by other organizations.

This data will be updated periodically and can be used as an ongoing resource to help cover these events.

Using this Dataset

To get basic counts of incidents of mass killings and mass shootings by year nationwide, use these queries:

Mass killings by year

Mass shootings by year

To get these counts just for your state:

Filter killings by state

Definition of "mass murder"

Mass murder is defined as the intentional killing of four or more victims by any means within a 24-hour period, excluding the deaths of unborn children and the offender(s). The standard of four or more dead was initially set by the FBI.

This definition does not exclude cases based on method (e.g., shootings only), type or motivation (e.g., public only), victim-offender relationship (e.g., strangers only), or number of locations (e.g., one). The time frame of 24 hours was chosen to eliminate conflation with spree killers, who kill multiple victims in quick succession in different locations or incidents, and to satisfy the traditional requirement of occurring in a “single incident.”

Offenders who commit mass murder during a spree (before or after committing additional homicides) are included in the database, and all victims within seven days of the mass murder are included in the victim count. Negligent homicides related to driving under the influence or accidental fires are excluded due to the lack of offender intent. Only incidents occurring within the 50 states and Washington D.C. are considered.

Methodology

Project researchers first identified potential incidents using the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR). Homicide incidents in the SHR were flagged as potential mass murder cases if four or more victims were reported on the same record, and the type of death was murder or non-negligent manslaughter.

Cases were subsequently verified utilizing media accounts, court documents, academic journal articles, books, and local law enforcement records obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Each data point was corroborated by multiple sources, which were compiled into a single document to assess the quality of information.

In case(s) of contradiction among sources, official law enforcement or court records were used, when available, followed by the most recent media or academic source.

Case information was subsequently compared with every other known mass murder database to ensure reliability and validity. Incidents listed in the SHR that could not be independently verified were excluded from the database.

Project researchers also conducted extensive searches for incidents not reported in the SHR during the time period, utilizing internet search engines, Lexis-Nexis, and Newspapers.com. Search terms include: [number] dead, [number] killed, [number] slain, [number] murdered, [number] homicide, mass murder, mass shooting, massacre, rampage, family killing, familicide, and arson murder. Offender, victim, and location names were also directly searched when available.

This project started at USA TODAY in 2012.

Contacts

Contact AP Data Editor Justin Myers with questions, suggestions or comments about this dataset at jmyers@ap.org. The Northeastern University researcher working with AP and USA TODAY is Professor James Alan Fox, who can be reached at j.fox@northeastern.edu or 617-416-4400.

This dataset was compiled from the ATF 2007 report on firearms trace data. The numbers provided represent numbers of firearms from each state (when they are in the top 15 source states) to other states. Other statistics are also calculated.

These data were collected using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), the primary data system of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC began operating NEISS in 1972 to monitor product-related injuries treated in United States hospital emergency departments (EDs). In June 1992, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, established an interagency agreement with CPSC to begin collecting data on nonfatal firearm-related injuries in order to monitor the incidents and the characteristics of persons with nonfatal firearm-related injuries treated in United States hospital EDs over time. This dataset represents all nonfatal firearm-related injuries (i.e., injuries associated with powder-charged guns) and all nonfatal BB and pellet gun-related injuries reported through NEISS from YYYY. The cases consist of initial ED visits for treatment of the injuries. The NEISS-FISS is designed to provide national incidence estimates of nonfatal firearm injuries treated in U.S. hospital EDs. Data on injury-related visits are obtained from a national sample of NEISS hospitals, which were selected as a stratified probability sample of hospitals in the United States and its territories with a minimum of six beds and a 24- hour ED. The sample includes separate strata for very large, large, medium, and small hospitals, defined by the number of annual ED visits per hospital, and children's hospitals. The scope of reporting goes beyond routine reporting of injuries associated with consumer- related products in CPSC's jurisdiction to include all firearm injuries. The data can be used to (1) measure the magnitude and distribution of nonfatal firearm injuries in the United States; (2) monitor unintentional and violence-related nonfatal firearm injuries over time; (3) identify emerging injury problems; (4) identify specific cases for follow-up investigations of particular injury-related problems; and (5) set national priorities. A fundamental principle of this expansion effort is that preliminary surveillance data will be made available in a timely manner to a number of different federal agencies with unique and overlapping public health responsibilities and concerns. The final edited data will be released annually as public use data files for use by other public health professionals and researchers. These public use data files provide NEISS-FISS data on nonfatal injuries collected from January through December each year. NEISS-FISS is providing data on over 100,000 estimated cases annually. Data obtained on each case include age, race/ethnicity, sex, principal diagnosis, primary body part affected, consumer products involved, disposition at ED discharge (i.e., hospitalized, transferred, treated and released, observation, died), locale where the injury occurred, work-relatedness, and a narrative description of the injury circumstances. Also, intent of injury (e.g., unintentional, assault, self-harm, legal intervention) are being coded for each case in a manner consistent with the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) coding rules and guidelines. Users are cautioned against using estimates with wide confidence intervals to make conclusions about point estimates. Firearm injuries have distinct geographic patterns and estimates can be imprecise or change over time when based on a small number of facilities. NEISS has been managed and operated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission since 1972 and is used by the Commission for identifying and monitoring consumer product-related injuries and for assessing risk to all U.S. residents. These product- related injury data are used for educating consumers about hazardous products and for identifying injury-related cases used in detailed studies of specific products and associated hazard patterns. These studies set the stage for developing both voluntary and mandatory safety standards. Since the early 1980s, CPSC has assisted other federal agencies by using NEISS to collect injury- related data of special interest to them. In 1992, an interagency agreement was established between NCIPC and CPSC to (1) collect NEISS data on nonfatal firearm- related injuries for the CDC Firearm Injury Surveillance Study; (2) publish NEISS d

Schusswaffen in der Europäischen Union. Themen: Einschätzung des Ausmaßes an Straftaten mit Schusswaffenbeteiligung im eigenen Land sowie erwartete Entwicklung in den nächsten fünf Jahren; Präferenz für stärkere Regulierung von Besitz, Kauf und Verkauf von Schusswaffen oder für andere Wege, das Ausmaß an Straftaten mit Schusswaffenbeteiligung zu senken; Einstellung zu gemeinsamen gesetzlichen Mindeststandards zu Schusswaffen in der Europäischen Union; Einstellung zu gemeinsamen gesetzlichen Mindeststandards zu Schusswaffen in Bezug auf: die Arten von Schusswaffen, die für den privaten Gebrauch verkauft werden dürfen, die Kennzeichnung jeder Schusswaffe zur Identifizierung des Besitzers, die Genehmigungspflicht für den Besitz von Schusswaffen, den Verkauf von Schusswaffen über das Internet, das Strafmaß für den unerlaubten Handel mit Schusswaffen; Bekämpfung der illegalen Einfuhr von Schusswaffen aus dem Nicht-EU-Ausland in die EU am effektivsten durch die Europäische Union in Zusammenarbeit mit den nationalen Behörden oder durch die nationalen Behörden alleine; Einstellung zur Kooperation der EU mit benachbarten Nicht-EU-Ländern, um diese bei der Kontrolle von Schusswaffen zu unterstützen; eigener Schusswaffenbesitz; Gründe für eigenen Schusswaffenbesitz. Demographie: Alter; Geschlecht; Staatsangehörigkeit; Alter bei Beendigung der Ausbildung; Beruf; berufliche Stellung; Region; Urbanisierungsgrad; Besitz eines Mobiltelefons; Festnetztelefon im Haushalt; Anzahl der Personen ab 15 Jahren im Haushalt (Haushaltsgröße). Zusätzlich verkodet wurde: Interviewmodus (Mobiltelefon oder Festnetz); Nationengruppe; Gewichtungsfaktor. Firearms in the European Union. Topics: assessment of the level of crime using firearms in the own country and expected development over the next five years; preference of stricter regulation of who is allowed to own, buy or sell firearms in the own country or of other ways to reduce the level of crime using firearms; attitude towards common minimum standards of laws about firearms in the European Union; attitude towards common minimum standards in the European Union regarding: the types of firearms that can be sold for private use, marking each firearm to identify its owner, licensing the possession of firearms, selling firearms on the internet, the way how illegal trafficking in firearms is punished; fight against firearms trafficking to the EU from outside the EU is most effective by the EU in cooperation with the national authorities or by the national authorities acting on their own; attitude towards the cooperation of the EU with neighbouring non-EU countries to help them control firearms; own possession of a firearm; reasons for owning a firearm. Demography: age; sex; nationality; age at end of education; occupation; professional position; region; type of community; own a mobile phone and fixed (landline) phone; household composition and household size. Additionally coded was: type of phone line; nation group; weighting factor. Telephone interview: CATI Bevölkerung der jeweiligen Nationalitäten der Mitgliedsstaaten der EU, wohnhaft in den 28 Mitgliedsstaaten, im Alter von 15 Jahren und älter

This dataset illustrates the largest difference between high and low temperatures and the smallest difference between high and low temperatures in cities with 50,000 people or more. A value of -1 means that the data was not applicable. Also included are the rankings, the inverse ranking to be used for mapping purposes, the popualtion, the name of city and state, and the temperature degree difference. Source City-Data URL http//www.city-data.com/top2/c489.html http//www.city-data.com/top2/c490.html Date Accessed November 13,2007

Number and percentage of homicide victims, by type of firearm used to commit the homicide (total firearms; handgun; rifle or shotgun; fully automatic firearm; sawed-off rifle or shotgun; firearm-like weapons; other firearms, type unknown), Canada, 1974 to 2018.

This dataset displays all the Segway Dealer Locations throughout the USA as of 6.2008. The information includes; Store Name, Store Location, Store Phone. The data comes from the website of Segway at segway.com and the lat/lons were obtained by geocoding the location's street address.

This dataset displays all the hazardous waste sites in the United States and it's Territories as of 5.08. The data comes from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry(ATSDR). The dataset contains information about the site: Site ID Site Name CERCLIS # Address City State County Latitude Longitude Population Region # Congressional Districts Federal Facility National Priorities List Status Ownership Status Classification For more information go to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry(ATSDR)website at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov

The United States Military Installations database contains the boundaries and location information for important military installations in the United States and Puerto Rico. The database includes records for 405 military installations. Source: National Transportation Atlas Database URL: http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_atlas_database/2006/

Cabelas is a specialty retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor recreation merchandise based in Sidney, NE. It uses catalogs, the Internet, and has 26 retail stores throughout the United States. This dataset maps the 26 Cabelas retail stores. The physical address and phone numbers were retrieved from cabelas.com and the address was then geocoded to find the exact lat/lon of the store's location. The data is current as of 12.2007. Several more stores are being planned to open in the future. These sites can be seen on another dataset entitled, "Future Cabelas Store Locations 12.2007" For more info, go to cabelas.com Data accessed on December 10th 2007 http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/community/aboutus/retail-stores.jsp

This dataset shows what guidelines states hold in denying someone the opportunity to purchase or possess a firearm within their state as of December 31st, 2005. The categories for denial include felonies, misdemeanors, fugitive status, mental illness, court order, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, minor/underage, juvenile offender, and alien status. Each state has their own guidelines. A yes in a category means that the state prohibits someone of this status from purchasing or possessing a firearm. A No means that they are allowed. The categories of prohibited persons in the Federal Gun Control Act (GCA) are the prevailing minimum nationwide. Firearm transfer to or possession by such persons is unlawful. State statutes may include additional or more restrictive prohibitions. These prohibitory laws are intended to prevent firearm possession or purchase by persons believed to be incapable of handling a weapon in a safe and legal manner. In some cases Federal and State laws allow a prohibited person to regain firearm rights. Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Transfers, 2005 This entire report provides an overview of the firearm check procedures in each State and State interaction with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) operated by the FBI. The report summarizes issues about State procedures, including persons prohibited from purchasing firearms, restoration of rights of purchase to prohibited persons, permits, prohibited firearms, waiting periods, fees, and appeals. Supplemental tables contain data on 2005 applications to purchase firearms and rejections, as well as tabular presentations of State-by-State responses. More information can be obtained by following the link to the source url.

This Dataset Tally's up the number of Olympic Gold medal winners per state. if an athlete has earned multiple medals, they only count as one. Its just the way it works out. anyways, this was pulled from Wikipedia.org, and is incomplete, these aren't total counts, these are just counts that i could find data for. If you'd like to try to do better, feel free. Source URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Olympic_gold_medalists_for_the_United_States

This dataset displays all the Vespa Dealer Locations throughout the USA as of 6.2008. The information includes; Store Name, Store Location, Store Phone, Store Hours, Store Website. The data comes from the website of Vespa at vespausa.com and the lat/lons were obtained by geocoding the location's street address.