Monday, December 17, 2012

HANDS UP! ~




Gun ammunition



How many gun are sold in the US each year?
 Completed .40 caliber cartridges, above, are seen at Stone Hart Manufacturing, Miami, Florida. 


If you want to find out exactly how many guns are sold in the US each year, then the figures are not recorded.


However, if you want to know how many applications there are to buy guns each year, then the latest data from the FBI shows that 2012 looks like a bumper year for gun sales in America.
In the wake of the Newtown shooting in Connecticut, there is a renewed focus on gun control in the US. And, under US law, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is used to check if someone can buy a gun from a federal registered dealer before they can walk out of the shop with it.

Before ringing up the sale, cashiers call in a check to the FBI or to other designated agencies to ensure that each customer does not have a criminal record or isn't otherwise ineligible to make a purchase.


The figures show that there have been 16,808,538 applications in 2012 so far to the end of November. If they were approved, that would be enough weapons to stock member of Nato's armed forces nearly five times over. The system has received 156,577,260 applications since 1998 and the US has the highest gun ownership rate in the world.



68,584,078 of the total applications since 1998 have been for 'long guns' such as rifles, usually a minimum length of 16 inches (40 cm) for rifle barrels - that is 43.8% of all applications.
The figures are also broken down by state - and they show that of those 16.8m applications, a huge amount come from Kentucky: 2,329,151, followed by Texas with 1,196,176 applications.


If you look at those figures by population for 2012, then Kentucky has had 535.78 applications for every 1,000 people in the state, followed by Montana with 116.95. The US average for 2012 is 53.94.
Of course, not all applications are approved. Reasons for denial include being convicted of a crime in the last two years, having a dishonorable discharge from the military or mental health problems. The latest figures show that being convicted of a crime (which is the easiest to check after all) is responsible for 58.65% of the 976,255 denials under the system.


The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also records figures for weapons stocked under the National Firearms act, which regulates and taxes many of the most serious weapons. It shows a record high in these weapons being processed this year.

The full data is below. What have we missed and what can you add?

Data summary

NICS applications by state

Click heading to sort table. Download this data
STATE
TOTAL APPLICATIONS, NOV 1998 TO NOV 2012
TOTAL, Jan to Nov 2012
2012 Rate per 1,000 population
UNITED STATES 156,577,260 16,808,538 53.94
Alabama 3,749,099 350,780 73.30
Alaska 714,007 72,904 102.09
Arizona 2,675,937 290,868 45.35
Arkansas 2,514,731 207,363 70.98
California 10,714,573 981,798 26.29
Colorado 3,736,952 361,385 71.59
Connecticut 1,810,014 208,250 58.24
Delaware 256,059 25,098 27.89
District of Columbia 2,170 398 0.66
Florida 5,957,840 699,974 37.16
Georgia 4,559,627 386,562 39.80
Guam 5,934 819
Hawaii 121,737 15,414 11.31
Idaho 1,243,607 115,927 73.79
Illinois 8,399,271 923,920 71.95
Indiana 3,300,627 404,259 62.28
Iowa 1,530,528 128,293 42.06
Kansas 1,673,605 175,427 61.36
Kentucky 15,118,518 2,329,151 535.78
Louisiana 2,987,951 266,593 58.65
Maine 790,550 79,418 59.83
Mariana Islands 296 5
Maryland 1,239,350 117,432 20.30
Massachusetts 1,567,707 185,202 28.25
Michigan 4,817,185 370,960 37.56
Minnesota 3,516,313 385,075 72.51
Mississippi 2,390,007 180,121 60.65
Missouri 3,804,462 432,060 72.06
Montana 1,253,675 115,893 116.95
Nebraska 742,160 70,454 38.50
Nevada 1,076,544 123,943 45.83
New Hampshire 894,061 108,531 82.42
New Jersey 634,408 75,804 8.61
New Mexico 1,338,322 121,882 59.00
New York 2,849,970 290,299 14.97
North Carolina 4,427,820 415,284 43.44
North Dakota 590,720 73,878 109.51
Ohio 4,918,014 526,684 45.65
Oklahoma 2,841,850 307,245 81.71
Oregon 2,347,894 222,795 58.04
Pennsylvania 8,156,636 835,293 65.68
Puerto Rico 115,421 13,772 3.70
Rhode Island 169,915 20,180 19.17
South Carolina 2,320,334 265,276 57.21
South Dakota 744,106 73,658 90.20
Tennessee 4,166,503 432,200 67.98
Texas 11,724,997 1,196,176 47.37
Utah 2,967,949 198,091 71.37
Vermont 310,812 29,662 47.39
Virgin Islands 9,320 370
Virginia 3,524,638 371,267 46.27
Washington 3,631,035 444,762 65.96
West Virginia 2,059,912 191,550 103.30
Wisconsin 2,974,560 413,842 72.71
Wyoming 587,027 53,480 94.73