Guns are big business in the U.S., and gun crime has remained a high-profile political issue.
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Guns are big business in the U.S., and gun crime has remained a high-profile political issue.
America has more guns than people — 120.5 guns for every 100 residents. Guns are big business in the U.S.: One trade association estimates the firearm industry is worth about $71 billion in the U.S. and generates $7.86 billion in taxes.
On the flip side, one estimate of the cost of gun violence includes $557 billion annually in medical costs, loss of work, costs of law enforcement and quality of life costs, which represents the value of the irreparable damage when a victim’s life is cut short or a survivor is permanently disabled by gun violence.
We see that pain and loss too regularly in the news—in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school in May, in Highland Park, Ill., where a gunman killed seven people and wounded dozens more at a Fourth of July parade, and in Buffalo, N.Y., where 10 people were shot and killed in a supermarket.
Americans are largely supportive of the new gun bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 25, with nearly two-thirds approving, according to a survey by Pew Research. But 78% of the survey respondents think the new gun law will do either little or nothing at all.
Are they right? An analysis of current gun policy research by the Rand Corporation sought to learn which gun policies appear to actually have the desired effect. The analysis found strong evidence that laws that prevent children from accessing guns may have the desired effect of decreasing suicides and unintentional deaths and injuries, and moderate evidence that waiting periods may decrease suicides. But they also found supportive evidence that stand-your-ground laws may increase violent crime.
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Is there enough research? For eight of the 18 policies they examined, either there were no studies examining the effects on any of the outcomes or the evidence was inconclusive.
The States That Are Most Dependent on the Gun IndustryTo determine the states that are most reliant on the gun industry, personal finance site WalletHub compared the economic impact of guns on each of the 50 states to determine which among them leans most heavily on the gun business, both directly for jobs and political contributions and indirectly through ownership.
They gathered data from sources including the Census Bureau, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, FBI, ATF, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Google Trends and RAND on three key dimensions:
Firearms industry, which includes jobs in the industry, number of firearms dealers, manufacturers and gun shows, state gun lawsGun prevalence, which includes the gun ownership rate, gun sales, gun ads,Gun politics, which gives equal weight to both gun control contributions and gun rights contributions to congressional members per capita.Here are the states most dependent on the gun industry.
1. IdahoFirearms industry rank: 1Gun prevalence rank: 8Gun politics rank: 5Idaho tops the list. The state has the most firearms-industry jobs per capita, tied with New Hampshire, Wyoming and Arkansas. Those four states also have the most firearms-industry output per capita and the most taxes paid by the industry. Idaho ranks fourth in the country for most gun ownership.
2. WyomingFirearms industry rank: 4Gun prevalence rank: 9Gun politics rank: 1Wyoming ties with three other states for gun politics (contributions to Congress per capita): Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. It ranks second, behind Montana, for gun ownership.
3. KentuckyFirearms industry rank: 20Gun prevalence rank: 1Gun politics rank: 64. South DakotaFirearms industry rank:6Gun prevalence rank: 12Gun politics rank: 1Shutterstock
5. MontanaFirearms industry rank: 5Gun prevalence rank: 12Gun politics rank: 21Shutterstock
6. ArkansasFirearms industry rank: 3Gun prevalence rank: 19Gun politics rank: 117. AlaskaFirearms industry rank: 14Gun prevalence rank: 24Gun politics rank: 88. North DakotaFirearms industry rank: 19Gun prevalence rank: 25Gun politics rank: 1Shutterstock
9. MissouriFirearms industry rank: 15Gun prevalence rank: 11Gun politics rank: 12iStock
10. OklahomaFirearms industry rank: 30Gun prevalence rank: 7Gun politics rank: 9f11photo / Shutterstock
11. TennesseeFirearms industry rank: 22Gun prevalence rank: 3Gun politics rank: 1812. AlabamaFirearms industry rank: 27Gun prevalence rank: 5Gun politics rank: 1413. South CarolinaFirearms industry rank: 18Gun prevalence rank: 15Gun politics rank: 1014. UtahFirearms industry rank: 7Gun prevalence rank: 31Gun politics rank: 1715. NebraskaFirearms industry rank: 16Gun prevalence rank: 41Gun politics rank: 116. West VirginiaFirearms industry rank: 31Gun prevalence rank: 14Gun politics rank: 1317. IndianaFirearms industry rank: 32Gun prevalence rank: 4Gun politics rank: 2018. LouisianaFirearms industry rank: 33Gun prevalence rank: 33Gun politics rank: 719. MississippiFirearms industry rank: 12Gun prevalence rank: 21Gun politics rank: 1620. KansasFirearms industry rank: 13Gun prevalence rank: 17Gun politics rank: 25Shutterstock
21. New HampshireFirearms industry rank: 2Gun prevalence rank: 6Gun politics rank: 49Dan Thornberg / Shutterstock
22. MinnesotaFirearms industry rank: 10Gun prevalence rank: 13Gun politics rank: 3423. MaineFirearms industry rank: 8Gun prevalence rank: 26Gun politics rank: 33Shutterstock
24. WisconsinFirearms industry rank: 38Gun prevalence rank: 16Gun politics rank: 2325. OregonFirearms industry rank: 11Gun prevalence rank: 18Gun politics rank: 2826. North CarolinaFirearms industry rank: 21Gun prevalence rank: 32Gun politics rank: 22Shutterstock
27. OhioFirearms industry rank: 26Gun prevalence rank: 22Gun politics rank: 2428. IowaFirearms industry rank: 28Gun prevalence rank: 38Gun politics rank: 1529. TexasFirearms industry rank: 17Gun prevalence rank: 40Gun politics rank: 1930. PennsylvaniaFirearms industry rank: 25Gun prevalence rank: 30Gun politics rank: 2731. VermontFirearms industry rank: 36Gun prevalence rank: 10Gun politics rank: 31iStock
32. ArizonaFirearms industry rank: 9Gun prevalence rank: 28Gun politics rank: 48Shutterstock
33. WashingtonFirearms industry rank: 39Gun prevalence rank: 36Gun politics rank: 2934. MichiganFirearms industry rank: 34Gun prevalence rank: 39Gun politics rank: 3535. FloridaFirearms industry rank: 41Gun prevalence rank: 42Gun politics rank: 2636. ColoradoFirearms industry rank: 24Gun prevalence rank: 27Gun politics rank: 4437. NevadaFirearms industry rank: 23Gun prevalence rank: 34Gun politics rank: 45Raisa Nastukova / Shutterstock
38. New MexicoFirearms industry rank: 42Gun prevalence rank: 20Gun politics rank: 4139. IllinoisFirearms industry rank: 46Gun prevalence rank: 23Gun politics rank: 37Shutterstock
40. DelawareFirearms industry rank: 43Gun prevalence rank: 29Gun politics rank: 4041. VirginiaFirearms industry rank: 37Gun prevalence rank: 35Gun politics rank: 46Shutterstock
42. GeorgiaFirearms industry rank: 35Gun prevalence rank: 37Gun politics rank: 4743. ConnecticutFirearms industry rank: 29Gun prevalence rank: 43Gun politics rank: 43Shutterstock
44. MassachusettsFirearms industry rank: 40Gun prevalence rank: 47Gun politics rank: 3945. MarylandFirearms industry rank: 44Gun prevalence rank: 45Gun politics rank: 3246. CaliforniaFirearms industry rank: 49Gun prevalence rank: 44Gun politics rank: 38Shutterstock
47. New YorkFirearms industry rank: 47Gun prevalence rank: 48Gun politics rank: 36Shutterstock
48. HawaiiFirearms industry rank: 50Gun prevalence rank: 50Gun politics rank: 3049. New JerseyFirearms industry rank: 48Gun prevalence rank: 49Gun politics rank: 4250. Rhode IslandFirearms industry rank: 45Gun prevalence rank: 46Gun politics rank: 49The states with the lowest rate of gun ownership are New York, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
See the methodology for this ranking at WalletHub.com.