How gun control works in the United States

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America’s long-standing acceptance of firearms has its roots in its colonial past, revolutionary beginnings, expansion across the frontier, and the Second Amendment.

As a result, the United States has 120.5 guns per 100 people, or about 393,347,000 guns per capita, the highest number in the world. It is estimated that 22% of Americans own at least one gun (35% of men and 12% of women).

There is no surprise that firearms are the leading cause of death in the U.S. and the high frequency of gun violence is apparent in comparison the other developed countries.

A series of high-profile mass shootings and an increase in gun violence in the U.S. over the last 10 years has caused police and legislators to call for stricter gun control regulations.

States with the strongest gun control laws are few and far between and located on opposite coasts. These states are marked in green on the map below.

California has the most laws on the books, with 104, and Alaska, Idaho, and Montana have the fewest, with four. The average number of gun laws per state is 27. There is also, typically, a wide legislative inequity within states, specifically in the cities. New York City and Philadelphia are more restrictive than their states.

So it’s not surprising California was ranked the top state in the nation for gun safety. The state has the strongest system in the country for removing firearms from people who are prohibited from possessing them.

It should be noted that it’s difficult to separate out the effectiveness of firearm laws from the inherent stability found in a wealthy, educated suburban society versus the instability that is endemic to its opposite inner-city neighborhoods. In highly restrictive Chicago, for example, the homicide rate in the dozen highest-crime districts is eight times higher than in the lowest-crime neighborhoods.