Gun ownership varies greatly around the world. The only three countries that consider gun ownership a constitutional right are Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States. Over 175 countries allow their citizens to own firearms and many have specific regulations on ownership such as banning certain types of firearms.
Some countries with the most restrictive firearm laws are China, India, Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam. Firearms are banned in North Korea and Eritrea.
With the increasing threat of gun violence, particularly mass shootings in schools, places of worship, and stores, many people believe that gun laws should be revised and tightened.
Gun/firearm ownership rate is the number of civilian firearms per 100 people.
The United States has the highest gun ownership, with 120.5 civilian firearms per 100 people. There are an estimated 393,347,000 total firearms in the United State. This means that there are more guns than there are people. Many people in the United States do not own guns, and many people own multiple guns.
Taiwan and Indonesia have the lowest gun ownership rate of zero civilian firearms per 100 people. Guns, however, are not banned in either of these countries. Taiwan only allows shotguns, handguns, and regular rifles and a background check and license are required for all guns. In Indonesia, firearms are sold and handled by the Weapons Officers of the Indonesian National Police. Indonesian law requires a background check, no ties or connections to radical groups, and a completed firearms safety class on top of other basic qualifications.
The ten countries with the highest civilian gun ownership (number of firearms per 100 people) are:
- United States (120.5)
- Falkland Islands (62.1)
- Yemen (52.8)
- New Caledonia (42.5)
- Serbia (39.1)
- Montenegro (39.1)
- Uruguay (34.7)
- Canada (34.7)
- Cyprus (34)
- Finland (32.4)