I own a firearm.Am I the only one?

Firearms have been a hot topic in the United States for decades. Between mass shootings, political argument and contested legislation, it is a subject that stirs up strong feeling on every side. One fact, though, is not in dispute: there are a great many guns in America. More guns than people, in fact — estimates put the number above 390 million.

Despite how widespread ownership is, it is not something many people are comfortable discussing. There is a real fear of being judged or criticized for owning a gun, and that fear keeps people quiet about it. Which is exactly why a new owner can look around and conclude they are the only one in the room.

They almost never are. If you have just bought your first firearm, or you are still thinking about it, you have far more company than the silence suggests.

The idea that every gun owner is conservative, Republican and rural is a common misconception, and it does a lot of quiet damage — it tells anyone who does not fit that description that firearms are not really for them.

In reality, gun owners come from every walk of life: Democrats, Independents, city dwellers, and people across every socioeconomic background. Some own firearms for hunting or recreation. Others own them for self-defense. The reasons are as varied as the people.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 30% of American adults personally own a gun, and roughly four in ten live in a household with one. That share has stayed relatively stable across recent decades with only slight variation. What has changed, and quickly, is who those owners are.

A 2018 study in the journal Injury Prevention put personal ownership at 12% of women and 33.3% of men. By 2022, Statista’s figures had reached 21% of women and 46% of men — the women’s share close to doubled.

Those are shares, not head counts, and the distinction matters more than it looks. Survey estimates of how many Americans own a firearm vary considerably depending on who is asked and how the question is put, and ownership is not a subject every respondent answers candidly. Any single national total you see quoted — including the ones this article itself once carried — is a projection, not a count.

What the surveys do agree on is the direction of travel. Ownership among women has risen sharply, and it has risen faster than ownership among men. Whatever the true total is, the number of people in your position has been going up, not down.

Even as the number of owners has grown, a great deal of misinformation and fear still surrounds firearms, and a new owner tends to feel that atmosphere before anything else. Worth saying plainly: the overwhelming majority of gun owners are ordinary, law-abiding people who handle their firearms legally and safely. What keeps it that way is not luck — it is secure storage and real instruction, which is the part nobody argues about.

So the bottom line is straightforward. If you own a firearm, you are not alone — the chances are that plenty of people around you do as well. Gun ownership is a personal choice, and it deserves to be respected regardless of political stance, gender or belief. It is time to break the stigma and start having open, honest conversations about firearms in America.

This article was first published in the spring of 2023, and the law in Florida moved shortly afterwards. Since July 1, 2023 the state has allowed permitless carry: a concealed weapon license is no longer required in order to carry concealed in Florida, provided you are legally able to possess a firearm.

The license is still worth having. It is recognized by a number of other states through reciprocity agreements, and it carries practical conveniences that permitless carry does not. Restrictions also remain — there are places where carrying is not permitted whether you hold a license or not.