11 Facts About Guns

Welcome to DoSomething.org, a global movement of millions of young people making positive change, online and off! The 11 facts you want are below, and the sources for the facts are at the very bottom of the page. After you learn something, Do Something! Find out how to take action here.

1. Americans own approximately 270 million guns, which gives America the highest rate of gun ownership with, 89 guns for every 100 people.^[Karp, Aaron. "Estimating Civilian Owned Firearms." Small Arms Survey. Accessed November 6, 2017, http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-9.pdf]
2. Approximately 20% of gun owners own 65% of the guns.^[Karp, Aaron. "Estimating Civilian Owned Firearms." Small Arms Survey. Accessed November 6, 2017, http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-9.pdf]
3. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms reports that about 9.3 million firearms were manufactured in the United States in 2015.^[“2017 Report on Firearms Commerce in the U.S.” Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Accessed November 6, 2017, https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/docs/undefined/firearms-commerce-united-states-annual-statistical-update-2017/download]
4. More than 36,000 Americans were victims of firearm-related deaths in 2015.^[“Fatal Injury Reports.” Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics WISQARS. Accessed November 6, 2017. https://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate.html]
5. In 2015, 11.3 of every 100,000 people in the US were victims of firearm-related deaths.^[“Fatal Injury Reports.” Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics WISQARS. Accessed November 6, 2017. https://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate.html]
6. As of January 1, 2017, 19 states and Washington, DC, go beyond federal law by requiring background checks for all handgun sales.^[“Background Checks Reduce Gun Violence and Save Lives.” EverytownResearch.org Accessed November 6, 2017. everytownresearch.org/background-checks-reduce-gun-violence-and-save-lives/]
7. Gun-related deaths are now the third leading cause of death of American children.^[“Gun Violence by the Numbers.” EverytownResearch.org. Accessed November 6, 2017, everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-by-the-numbers/?source=etno_ETHomePage&utm_source=et_n_&utm_medium=_o&utm_campaign=ETHomePage.]
8. Every day, 7 children are killed and 12 more are injured with a gun.^[“Gun Violence by the Numbers.” EverytownResearch.org. Accessed November 6, 2017, everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-by-the-numbers/ source=etno_ETHomePage&utm_source=et_n_&utm_medium=_o&utm_campaign=ETHomePage.]
9. 44% of Americans say they personally know someone who has been shot with a gun, either accidentally or intentionally.^[Igielnik, Ruth, and Anna Brown. “Key Takeaways on Americans' Views of Guns and Gun Ownership.” Pew Research Center. Accessed November 6, 2017. www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/22/key-takeaways-on-americans-views-of-guns-and-gun-ownership/]
10. According to DoSomething.org, even though young people are disproportionately affected by gun violence, 85% of young people say they feel silenced in the debate over finding solutions.^[Kim, Sarah. “These Students Felt Silence About Gun Violence. So They Spoke Up, and the White House Listened.” Do Something.org. Accessed November 6, 2017. https://blog.dosomething.org/these-students-felt-silenced-about-gun-violence-so-they-spoke-up-and-the-white-house-listened-b578e2b5ae59]
11. 27 people were killed by guns in America on Christmas Day in 2015, which is equal to the total number of people killed in gun homicides in an entire year in Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Estonia, Bermuda, Hong Kong, and Iceland combined.^[Ingraham, Christopher. “27 Americans Were Shot and Killed on Christmas Day.” The Washington Post. Accessed November 6, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/28/guns-killed-more-people-on-christmas-in-the-u-s-than-in-an-entire-year-in-these-countries/?utm_term=.38a36844f353]