Posted June 20, 2018 7:30 am by Comments

By Christen Smith

Gun ownership spiked worldwide over the last decade, according to the most recent Small Arms Survey.
Civilian-held legal and illegal firearms increased 32 percent to 857 million in 2017, according to researchers. American gun ownership far outpaced the remaining 229 counties and territories included in the list, accounting for more than 45 percent of the global total — or roughly 120.5 firearms per 100 U.S. citizens.
India, China, Pakistan and Russia round out the top five countries for civilian-held firearms, according to the data.
“The key to the United States, of course, is its unique gun culture,” the report’s author, Aaron Karp, told the Chicago Tribune this week. “American civilians buy an average of 14 million new firearms every year, and that means the United States is an overwhelming presence on civilian markets.”
Researchers compiled the estimates from a patchwork of government databases, surveys and seizure reports. Due to fluctuating laws internationally, the definition of firearm ranges from “improved craft weapons” to factory-made handguns, shotguns, rifles and machine guns.
“It is clear that global civilian holdings are growing, with much, but not all, of the increase attributable to rising ownership in the United States,” the report concludes, noting the data should be interpreted with caution.

Source: Guns.com

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