I have often heard that in the USA most of the inhabitants carry a weapon with them, so I want to ask you about it

41 comments

  2. Most of us don’t carry a weapon, but a sizable portion does.

    Ease of access varies state to state, but in my state it’s as easy as going to Walmart and buying it.

  4. Go to store

    Pick out what you want

    Fill out 4473 form

    Store calls it into NICS and gets a proceed, deny, or delay response

    Pay then go home (some states have a waiting period before you can take it home)

  6. Well in my state all I need to do to buy a gun is go to the store, there they will fill out some paperwork, run a quick background check, then I exchange money and walk out with the gun. Takes maybe 20 minutes.

    As for how many people actually carry them? They really depends on the area. It is much more common in rural areas, but I would say maybe 10% are actually armed every day.

    I don’t always carry my handgun with me. Maybe only half the time I leave my house.

    In my state we can openly carry a gun without a license, but we need a permit to conceal the gun or have one loaded in our vehicle. The permit was $20 and I only had to fill out a single page form. It took a half hour from the time I applied until I got my permit.

  8. It’s definitely untrue that most Americans carry a weapon with them. Last I heard the stats were about 32% of Americans own a gun, making for 42% of American households having a gun.

    There are actually more firearms than people in the US but owned by a minority of the population.

    As for how difficult it is, it depends entirely on which state you’re in and what kind of gun it is.

  10. I wonder where you’re getting your information from. This isn’t remotely true.

  11. You have to pass a background check. Yes you need rights but unless you’re a felon, you have those rights. Many of us carry but not most.

  12. Depends where you live. When I bought my first gun I showed up, picked out what I wanted and handed them my ID. Signed on a dotted line and I was good to go.

  13. > I have often heard that in the USA most of the inhabitants carry a weapon with them

    This is simply untrue.

    As for how easy it is to get them, it depends on the state. In some its fairly easy, in others its a very lengthy process.

  14. In my state (California)you need to do a background check and i think there’s a waiting period, you also need a permit. There’s a further permit needed for “concealed carry” i.e. in a holster or pocket. Most people don’t carry one all the time; in rural areas carrying one is more common. I personally enjoy guns and shooting but I do not own one and don’t have plans to, because I get very depressed sometimes and don’t need the risk.

  15. It varies by state. You can purchase a gun with proper identification. A federal background check is done to insure you are eligible to legally possess a gun.

    If you have been convicted of certain crimes, or have be forcefully institutionalized for psychological issues, you are not allowed to purchase a gun. Some may after a period of time.

    To carry a concealed gun, you must posses a permit issued by the state. Easy in some states. Very difficult in others. Some states have an open carry law. You can carry without a permit, as long as you were not convicted of certain crimes.

    I believe there are 390 million privately owend guns in the US.

  16. I wandered into a gun show a few years ago out of boredom and left about 30 minutes later with a Ruger SR9. My state doesn’t require a license for concealed carry. I assume anybody that can pass a quick background check and can pay for it could’ve done the same.

    I do not carry and generally only have the gun on me if I’m going to the shooting range but theres nothing stopping me if i actually wanted to carry it

    I also have a 30-06 hunting rifle that i bought online and it was shipped to a registered firearms dealer locally and i picked it up there. Also a very easy process

  18. I think in rural michigan, if you don’t own a gun, you know where you can get one pretty quick, legally or not

  19. Nice try Putin! Yes, every American has fully automatic weapons, RPG’s, and a front yard full of land mines! We’re on to you now…

    Just kiddin’, look at the other serious replies. Media distortions abound.

  21. I bought a 9mm pistol at Cabelas in about a half hour. Took my ID and did a federal background check then voila! There is also variation in different states – my state of Arizona is definitely 2nd amendment friendly.

  23. Laws regarding carrying firearms varies by state and municipality. Any sale from a firearms dealer requires a NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) E-Check.

    Let’s use Wal-Mart as an example, if that location has them. First, you need to locate one of two or three employees qualified to make the transaction. Then, you have to fill out an ATF 4473 form. Third, you wait for the background check to be completed. Fourth, you pay for the firearm. Fifth, you take the firearm home if there’s no state mandatory waiting period or come back when the waiting period is over.

    Gun carry rates depend on where you are. In some places, it’s next to impossible to get a permit to carry for most people. In others, you are generally okay as long as you meet the requirements.

    We do need rights to firearms, because seconds count and the police are minutes away. Hunting is a popular hobby in many areas. Unfortunately, we eliminated wolves in most of the country so we rely on hunting to keep the deer population down. Invasive wild hogs is a big problem in part of the country, and those things are aggressive. There are a few places where it’s unsafe to hike without a high powered firearm.

  24. Everyone has to pass a basic background check to verify the person purchasing the gun isn’t a former felon, fugitive, etc.

    States have different restrictions beyond that. In Indiana, we have really lax gun laws where you can purchase a gun as long as you pass the Federal background check. That being said, I don’t normally see people carrying weapons in public frequently. It definitely happens, but it’s rare enough that it’s always a little surprising to see someone carrying a gun in public.

  26. >I have often heard that in the USA most of the inhabitants carry a weapon with them,

    You can ask people for sources when they make a factual statement like that.

  27. How easy? It really depends. At a minimum, acquiring guns in the US requires the completion of background checks. In some states that are additional barriers, including waiting periods. In my state, there is a 60 day waiting period to acquire a handgun.

    Most inhabitants in the US do not carry a gun. Adding to this, most Americans will never see a person carrying a gun unless it’s a police officer or someone hunting.

    One distinction on the “rights” aspect that is different from other countries. We do not believe that rights are granted by the government. They are ours by birth. To simplify this, rights are not something that can be taken away except in extreme circumstances. When we hear Europeans talk about rights, we would often call their definitions ‘privileges’. (Freedom of speech with a lot of restrictions isn’t a right in our view. That’s a privilege.)

    And we believe that all humans were born with the right to keep and bear arms.

  28. > I have often heard that in the USA most of the inhabitants carry a weapon with them,

    This is false in fact, but has a kernel of truth.

    Only a small fraction (5-10%) of the population carry weapons regularly. That’s still significantly more than most countries, but not “Most”.

    To answer your titile, it varries a bit by state for both aquisition and permit to carry, and there are specific groups of weapons with additional requirements (like machineguns and suppressors), but the most common circumstance is as follows:

    1) walk into gun store and pick out the gun you want.

    2) Fill out a form that asserts that you are not prohibited from possessing a weapon (felony conviction, involuntary commitment to a mental health institution, illegal immigrant, ect )

    3) The gun store calls a special phone number that directs to the FBI to verify that you did not lie on the above form.

    4) FBI responds with one of 3 responses that are essentially “Go,” “No go,” or “We need a few days to find out.”

    5) Assuming you got the goahead from the FBI, you pay for your weapon and take it home.

    The whole above process doesn’t need to take much more than 15 minutes of so.

    Carrying a weapon is a bit more complicated, as many states require you to get a permit to carry a handgun, but this requirement is getting less and less common as more states are moving to “constitutional carry” which loosely translates to people being allowed to carry any weapon they can legally own without a state-issued permit.

  29. Really depends on the state. Some states like New Hampshire or Maine have what’s called “constitutional concealed carry” meaning that as long as you:

    1) are not a felon
    2) are not charged with domestic assault
    3) do not have an active restraining order against you

    You can legally carry a concealed firearm on your person. The other big one is being institutionalized for mental health reasons, but this isn’t an automatic disqualifier (i.e. war veterans).

    Other states like Massachusetts requires you to take a 4hr Home Firearm Safety Course and then also submit an application for a License To Carry (LTC). Even then, you can still get denied the LTC.

    When it comes to your assumption that most of the population carries, again it depends on the state. And even then, I’d reckon it’s well below half of the population. Maybe even under 20% though that’s all speculation based on my friend and family groups.

  30. Getting a gun depends on the state. But the joke that you can walk into a Walmart and buy a gun as easily as you can buy a bag of cookies is just a joke. Most states require a little more labor in order to get a gun.

  31. In my redneck state it wasn’t uncommon at all to see three different guys (and gals, FTM) in Fred meyer openly carrying a pistol at any given time. We are a constitutional carry state as well- so there’s no way to know how many people had them concealed. At least two, when we were there anyway.

  32. Generally speaking? Firearms can be purchased by adults after completing an ATF Form 4473 federal background check. The check runs the person’s information through the national criminal database to ensure they are not a prohibited person. Assuming they pass? They can take their new firearm home that same day. The process is fairly simple and effective. Private sales are different, though, and in many states don’t require a background check if the buyer has a license to carry. Some states don’t require background checks at all for private sales, though. That’s a measure I’m personally iffy on, as I think people should be able to go into any police station and ask for a background check when conducting a private sale. A concealed carry permit would also be an acceptable alternative for me.

    As far as do I think I need/have a right to them? Yes. I firmly believe that the citizenry always needs a means to challenge the government’s monopoly on violence.

  33. Maybe 30% of Americans own a firearm. Most people go unarmed.

    It bears repeating, until the stupid stereotype dies.

  34. Most Americans do not carry a weapon. 32% of adults report owning a fun and 44% report living in a household with a gun. Of those who own guns a small percentage carry.

  35. I lived in the USA for 44 years and only fired a gun once (Cub Scout Camp) and seen a privately owned gun once – and that was in 1990.

    All the rest of the guns I’ve seen were either attached to law enforcement, in a museum, or in a sporting goods store.

    This doesn’t count things like Revolutionary War re-enactments and the like where they fired muskets.

  36. It’s pretty easy to acquire a firearm in the US, especially constitutional carry states. Most people I know own a firearm. About half of them carry daily.

  39. It’s harder to legally drive a car than to own a gun. Most people don’t own one, but those that do own guns often own many, many guns which throws off the average.

  40. I live in california, its very easy to get your hands on one, but doing so legally is much more difficult

  41. I live in California which, aside from MA or NY is probably the hardest state to get one.

    Way oversimplifying it:

    Handgun: You must be 21 or older.

    Long gun: If you’re 18-21 you can get one with a hunting license, which is easy to get. That’s the only exception.

    For all firearms you need the following:

    Safety certificate, you take a quick and easy safety exam with 30 or questions. You have to buy it through an authorized gun broken even if it’s used, the firearm has to be on the “roster” which is this state list of allowed firearms which have been modified to fulfull a massive list of state requirement. You can’t have a restraining order against you, can’t have been dishonorably discharged from the military, or been in a mental hospital. Finally, there’s a 10 day waiting period before you can pick it up.

    If you want to conceal carry you need a license and that’s a lot it’s even harder:

    DOJ background check, 8 hour training course, approval by your local sheriff department (which depending on what county you live in may range from as simple as granting for self defense, or only granted for exceptional reasons. The whole process takes about 4-6 months and costs over $400 after the class and the fees.

    So it’s easier to buy than than the majority of other countries but not so easy to where you can just walk into a mall and buy one.

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