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The states with the most guns also have the highest percentage of households that own at least one gun: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map._Percent_of_

The states with the most guns also have the highest percentage of households that own at least one gun: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map._Percent_of_households_with_guns_by_US_state_in_2016._RAND_Corporation.svg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map._Percent_of_hous.... In the Idaho to Dakotas region, more than half of households have a gun. But the same region has among the lowest homicide rates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_intenti... Crime rates are reported per 100,000 people, so population isn’t the reason.

acdha 1y ago
Household ownership doesn't matter if the people who own them aren't likely to be involved in crimes - if a 50 year old farmer has a hunting rifle, their risk profile to society is really different than an angry 19 year old with a handgun. While crime rates are per 100,000 people, population density makes a big difference because a low density, homogeneous population is going to have fewer interactions which turn negative. That's why people comparing crime stats usually compare cities or regions to avoid falsely reporting a correlation which is nothing more than a function of urban vs. rural density.