I have made two new maps. The first one represents the total number of civilian firearms in a country divided by the population. It is not the same as the gun ownership rate (second map), as some individuals own more than one gun.
In the USA there are over 120 firearms for 100 people, by the highest gun ownership rates are found in the states of Wyoming and Montana (each 66%).
I could not find the actual gun ownership rate by household for all European countries, but for those listed on Wikipedia it is sensibly the same as the firearms per 100 people. The US is an exception in this regard as some individuals like to "collect" lots of guns. Among Americans who do own a gun, the average per household is three guns!
Anyway, I used exactly the same scale and colours for both maps, so it's easy to see just how many more guns American civilians have. It is noteworthy however that Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Massachussetts and Rhode Island are within the European average and really stand out from the rest of the United States. California and Illinois have a similar gun ownership rate as Canada and Nordic countries, two regions where hunting is still widely practised and where protections from bears in the countryside may be necessary. Brown bears are also found in Austria and the Dinaric Alps (Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia), which surely explains the higher popularity of guns in that region. The same is true for Alaska, Montana and Wyoming, the only states that still have populations of Grizzly bears.
In the USA there are over 120 firearms for 100 people, by the highest gun ownership rates are found in the states of Wyoming and Montana (each 66%).
I could not find the actual gun ownership rate by household for all European countries, but for those listed on Wikipedia it is sensibly the same as the firearms per 100 people. The US is an exception in this regard as some individuals like to "collect" lots of guns. Among Americans who do own a gun, the average per household is three guns!
Anyway, I used exactly the same scale and colours for both maps, so it's easy to see just how many more guns American civilians have. It is noteworthy however that Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Massachussetts and Rhode Island are within the European average and really stand out from the rest of the United States. California and Illinois have a similar gun ownership rate as Canada and Nordic countries, two regions where hunting is still widely practised and where protections from bears in the countryside may be necessary. Brown bears are also found in Austria and the Dinaric Alps (Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia), which surely explains the higher popularity of guns in that region. The same is true for Alaska, Montana and Wyoming, the only states that still have populations of Grizzly bears.