Nearly half of U.S. adults live in a household with a gun. Firearm injury is the leading cause of death for children and teens, and studies consistently link guns in the home to a significantly higher risk of suicide.
Key Takeaways
- 37% of U.S. households in the West report having a firearm in the home
- 22.9% of U.S. adults reported having access to a gun at home
- An estimated 4.6% of U.S. adults reported bringing a gun to a place where it was illegal in the past year
- 4.3% of U.S. adults reported having a firearm stored in an unsafe manner in their home
- An estimated 3.0% of children living in gun-owning households had access to an unlocked gun
- 48.0% of U.S. adults reported personally owning a gun in 2021
- 71% of gun owners reported that their guns are stored locked when children are present in the household
- 57% of gun owners reported storing firearms with a lock (e.g., cable lock, trigger lock, or in a safe) in 2019
- 13% of U.S. gun-owning households reported that a child in the home had access to a gun in 2021
- Firearm injury is the leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S.
- Households with guns have a higher likelihood of suicide deaths by firearm than households without guns, with a relative risk of 2.8 in a 2020 meta-analysis
- A 2019 systematic review found firearms in the home are associated with an increased risk of suicide by 2.3 to 5.0 times
- 56.6% of U.S. adults reported a firearm is kept in the home (2019 survey, among those in households with guns where the respondent reported knowing about it)
- 54% of U.S. adults live in households with a gun (2021 survey; percentage of respondents reporting a gun in their home)
- 1.5% of U.S. adults reported having a gun stored where it could be accessed by children without adult assistance (2019 survey estimate)
Most U.S. households with firearms keep them locked, yet firearms at home still heighten suicide risk and unintentional injuries.
Related reading
01 · Category
Home Prevalence5 stats
01
56.6% of U.S. adults reported a firearm is kept in the home (2019 survey, among those in households with guns where the respondent reported knowing about it)
02
54% of U.S. adults live in households with a gun (2021 survey; percentage of respondents reporting a gun in their home)
03
1.5% of U.S. adults reported having a gun stored where it could be accessed by children without adult assistance (2019 survey estimate)
04
3.3% of U.S. adults reported that they personally own more than one firearm (2021 survey)
05
40% of gun-owning households reported having at least one firearm stored in the home for self-defense (2019 survey)
Interpretation
Home Prevalence Interpretation
For the home prevalence angle, the data suggest guns are common in US households, with about 56.6% of adults reporting a firearm in the home in 2019 and 54% living in households with a gun in 2021, while roughly 40% of gun-owning households keep a firearm for self-defense.
02 · Category
Safety & Storage3 stats
01
An estimated 4.6% of U.S. adults reported bringing a gun to a place where it was illegal in the past year
02
4.3% of U.S. adults reported having a firearm stored in an unsafe manner in their home
03
An estimated 3.0% of children living in gun-owning households had access to an unlocked gun
Interpretation
Safety & Storage Interpretation
About 4.3% of U.S. adults reported storing a firearm unsafely at home and 3.0% of children in gun-owning households had access to an unlocked gun, showing that safety and storage gaps remain a significant issue.
03 · Category
Health & Impact3 stats
01
Firearm injury is the leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S.
02
Households with guns have a higher likelihood of suicide deaths by firearm than households without guns, with a relative risk of 2.8 in a 2020 meta-analysis
03
A 2019 systematic review found firearms in the home are associated with an increased risk of suicide by 2.3 to 5.0 times
Interpretation
Health & Impact Interpretation
In the Health and Impact category, the data show that having firearms at home is linked to far higher suicide risk, with studies reporting 2.8 times the risk of firearm suicide deaths and a 2019 review finding suicide risk increases by about 2.3 to 5.0 times.
More related reading
04 · Category
Injury & Mortality3 stats
01
0.8% of U.S. adults reported unintentional firearm injury to someone in the household in the past year (2017–2019 combined estimate)
02
23.5% of child firearm-related deaths were unintentional in 2022 (CDC WISQARS estimate; unintentional firearm deaths share for ages 0–19)
03
2.0% of all unintentional injury deaths among children ages 0–14 were firearm-related in 2021 (CDC WISQARS; firearm share among unintentional injuries)
Interpretation
Injury & Mortality Interpretation
Even though only 0.8% of U.S. adults reported unintentional firearm injury in the household over 2017 to 2019, firearm-related harm shows up as a notable share of childhood injury and deaths, with 23.5% of child firearm-related deaths unintentional in 2022 and 2.0% of all unintentional injury deaths among children ages 0 to 14 in 2021, underscoring the Injury and Mortality stakes for children.
05 · Category
Household Prevalence2 stats
01
37% of U.S. households in the West report having a firearm in the home
02
22.9% of U.S. adults reported having access to a gun at home
Interpretation
Household Prevalence Interpretation
Under the Household Prevalence category, firearms are present in 37% of U.S. households in the West, and 22.9% of U.S. adults report having access to a gun at home, showing that gun presence is a meaningful household-level reality for a sizable share of people.
06 · Category
Industry Overview11 stats
01
71% of gun owners reported that their guns are stored locked when children are present in the household
02
57% of gun owners reported storing firearms with a lock (e.g., cable lock, trigger lock, or in a safe) in 2019
03
1.6% of U.S. adults reported storing a firearm unlocked and loaded (2020 survey; share reporting that specific storage status)
04
37.0% of households with firearms reported that guns are stored locked when children are present (2019 survey result)
05
1 in 5 households with guns reported that a child has seen the firearm (2019 survey estimate)
06
2.0% of U.S. adults reported that a child in their home had obtained a gun at some point (households with children; survey estimate)
07
$100+ billion annual direct and indirect cost of firearm violence to the U.S. (Gun Violence costs estimate; credible policy/academic analysis)
08
$3.6 billion direct medical costs of firearm injuries in 2019 (IHME/U.S. cost estimate reported in published research)
09
48.0% of U.S. adults reported personally owning a gun in 2021
10
13% of U.S. gun-owning households reported that a child in the home had access to a gun in 2021
11
9% of U.S. gun owners reported that they do not use any storage method for their firearms (2019 survey)
Interpretation
Industry Overview Interpretation
In the Industry Overview picture of firearms storage, most gun households report safer practices when children are around, with 71% locking guns in those homes, yet children still occasionally encounter firearms since 1 in 5 gun households report a child has seen the firearm and 2.0% of U.S. adults with children say a child has obtained a gun at some point.
report visual · Key figures
How common firearms are at home
A large share of U.S. adults live in households with guns, and many firearms are kept at least somewhat accessible—while a smaller fraction report more hazardous storage.
54%
54% of U.S. adults live in households with a gun (2021 survey; percentage of respondents reporting a gun in their home)
56.6%
56.6% of U.S. adults reported a firearm is kept in the home (2019 survey, among those in households with guns where the
1.5%
1.5% of U.S. adults reported having a gun stored where it could be accessed by children without adult assistance (2019 s
4.3%
4.3% of U.S. adults reported having a firearm stored in an unsafe manner in their home
71%
71% of gun owners reported that their guns are stored locked when children are present in the household
source-verifiedpapers.ssrn.com · hsph.harvard.edu · ajpmonline.org · nejm.org · rand.org2021
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Thomas Lindqvist. (2026, February 13). Guns In The Home Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/guns-in-the-home-statistics
MLA
Thomas Lindqvist. "Guns In The Home Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/guns-in-the-home-statistics.
Chicago
Thomas Lindqvist. 2026. "Guns In The Home Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/guns-in-the-home-statistics.
Sources & references
27 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+13 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)