This Is How Many Guns Were Sold in Each State So Far This Year

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Mar 23, 8:00AM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

This Is How Many Guns Were Sold in Each State So Far This Year — © Scott Barbour / Getty Images News via Getty Images

The trend in gun sales began to change in 2021 compared to most other years in the past decade. Gun sales, using the FBI’s firearms background checks as a proxy, reached 38,876,673 in 2021. This was down slightly from the record set in 2020 of 39,695,315.

There are several theories explaining the sharp rise in gun sales over the past two years. Among them is the violence in American cities during protests. Another is that the pandemic has, perhaps irrationally, increased concerns about protecting one’s property. The 2022 background checks figures show that some of these trends may have started to taper off.

Despite the drop, gun violence continues to be a regular part of the news headlines this year. Murders in American cities spiked last year, particularly in large cities. So far this year, the trend has continued. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a surge in gun violence in Seattle, which is generally considered a relatively safe city. Here are cities where the record for most murders was broken in 2021.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have already been 8,939 gun deaths in America so far in 2022. Even with stricter gun ownership and purchasing laws, the difficult fact is that about 400 million guns are currently owned by private citizens, the police, and the military. The chance that civilians who own guns will turn them into the government, no matter what the incentive, is small. These are the states with the best and worst gun laws.

Inexplicably, gun sales collapsed in the first two months of this year, compared to the same period in 2021. So far, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System reported 5,146,500 background checks, compared to 7,760,581 in January and February of 2021. That means the 2022 number was only 66% of the number for 2021.

Total gun sales remained high in some states. Background check figures were particularly large in Illinois, at 782,222 during January and February.

To determine how many guns were sold in each state so far this year, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on background checks data from Jan. 1, 2022, to Feb. 28, 2022, from the FBI’s NICS Firearm Checks. We used the background checks as a proxy for year-to-date gun sales. Population data used to calculate gun sales per capita came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population and Housing Unit Estimates program and are for July 1, 2021.

Here are the gun sales figures for the first two months of 2022 for all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico

Alabama
> Gun sales this year: 131,862
> Gun sales per capita: 26.2 per 1,000
> Total population: 5.0 million

[in-text-ad]

Alaska
> Gun sales this year: 10,902
> Gun sales per capita: 14.9 per 1,000
> Total population: 732,673

[recirclink id=1066816]

Arizona
> Gun sales this year: 73,004
> Gun sales per capita: 10.0 per 1,000
> Total population: 7.3 million

Arkansas
> Gun sales this year: 36,489
> Gun sales per capita: 12.1 per 1,000
> Total population: 3.0 million

[in-text-ad-2]

California
> Gun sales this year: 210,577
> Gun sales per capita: 5.4 per 1,000
> Total population: 39.2 million

Colorado
> Gun sales this year: 83,591
> Gun sales per capita: 14.4 per 1,000
> Total population: 5.8 million

[in-text-ad]

Connecticut
> Gun sales this year: 39,127
> Gun sales per capita: 10.9 per 1,000
> Total population: 3.6 million

[recirclink id=1038777]

Delaware
> Gun sales this year: 9,684
> Gun sales per capita: 9.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 1.0 million

Florida
> Gun sales this year: 234,405
> Gun sales per capita: 10.8 per 1,000
> Total population: 21.8 million

[in-text-ad-2]

Georgia
> Gun sales this year: 102,272
> Gun sales per capita: 9.5 per 1,000
> Total population: 10.8 million

Hawaii
> Gun sales this year: 2,690
> Gun sales per capita: 1.9 per 1,000
> Total population: 1.4 million

[in-text-ad]

Idaho
> Gun sales this year: 35,993
> Gun sales per capita: 18.9 per 1,000
> Total population: 1.9 million

[recirclink id=1016354]

Illinois
> Gun sales this year: 782,222
> Gun sales per capita: 61.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 12.7 million

Indiana
> Gun sales this year: 218,109
> Gun sales per capita: 32.0 per 1,000
> Total population: 6.8 million

[in-text-ad-2]

Iowa
> Gun sales this year: 45,842
> Gun sales per capita: 14.4 per 1,000
> Total population: 3.2 million

Kansas
> Gun sales this year: 31,367
> Gun sales per capita: 10.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 2.9 million

[in-text-ad]

Kentucky
> Gun sales this year: 712,367
> Gun sales per capita: 158.0 per 1,000
> Total population: 4.5 million

[recirclink id=1068934]

Louisiana
> Gun sales this year: 58,604
> Gun sales per capita: 12.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 4.6 million

Maine
> Gun sales this year: 15,668
> Gun sales per capita: 11.4 per 1,000
> Total population: 1.4 million

[in-text-ad-2]

Maryland
> Gun sales this year: 36,211
> Gun sales per capita: 5.9 per 1,000
> Total population: 6.2 million

Massachusetts
> Gun sales this year: 35,433
> Gun sales per capita: 5.1 per 1,000
> Total population: 7.0 million

[in-text-ad]

Michigan
> Gun sales this year: 125,187
> Gun sales per capita: 12.5 per 1,000
> Total population: 10.1 million

[recirclink id=1068027]

Minnesota
> Gun sales this year: 135,238
> Gun sales per capita: 23.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 5.7 million

Mississippi
> Gun sales this year: 45,915
> Gun sales per capita: 15.6 per 1,000
> Total population: 2.9 million

[in-text-ad-2]

Missouri
> Gun sales this year: 82,865
> Gun sales per capita: 13.4 per 1,000
> Total population: 6.2 million

Montana
> Gun sales this year: 19,976
> Gun sales per capita: 18.1 per 1,000
> Total population: 1.1 million

[in-text-ad]

Nebraska
> Gun sales this year: 12,601
> Gun sales per capita: 6.4 per 1,000
> Total population: 2.0 million

[recirclink id=1066816]

Nevada
> Gun sales this year: 25,001
> Gun sales per capita: 8.0 per 1,000
> Total population: 3.1 million

New Hampshire
> Gun sales this year: 19,682
> Gun sales per capita: 14.2 per 1,000
> Total population: 1.4 million

[in-text-ad-2]

New Jersey
> Gun sales this year: 25,758
> Gun sales per capita: 2.8 per 1,000
> Total population: 9.3 million

New Mexico
> Gun sales this year: 26,845
> Gun sales per capita: 12.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 2.1 million

[in-text-ad]

New York
> Gun sales this year: 62,162
> Gun sales per capita: 3.1 per 1,000
> Total population: 19.8 million

[recirclink id=1038777]

North Carolina
> Gun sales this year: 107,866
> Gun sales per capita: 10.2 per 1,000
> Total population: 10.6 million

North Dakota
> Gun sales this year: 10,622
> Gun sales per capita: 13.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 774,948

[in-text-ad-2]

Ohio
> Gun sales this year: 105,585
> Gun sales per capita: 9.0 per 1,000
> Total population: 11.8 million

Oklahoma
> Gun sales this year: 56,928
> Gun sales per capita: 14.3 per 1,000
> Total population: 4.0 million

[in-text-ad]

Oregon
> Gun sales this year: 62,150
> Gun sales per capita: 14.6 per 1,000
> Total population: 4.2 million

[recirclink id=1016354]

Pennsylvania
> Gun sales this year: 198,355
> Gun sales per capita: 15.3 per 1,000
> Total population: 13.0 million

Rhode Island
> Gun sales this year: 4,572
> Gun sales per capita: 4.2 per 1,000
> Total population: 1.1 million

[in-text-ad-2]

South Carolina
> Gun sales this year: 67,657
> Gun sales per capita: 13.0 per 1,000
> Total population: 5.2 million

South Dakota
> Gun sales this year: 13,858
> Gun sales per capita: 15.5 per 1,000
> Total population: 895,376

[in-text-ad]

Tennessee
> Gun sales this year: 138,446
> Gun sales per capita: 19.8 per 1,000
> Total population: 7.0 million

[recirclink id=1068934]

Texas
> Gun sales this year: 267,878
> Gun sales per capita: 9.1 per 1,000
> Total population: 29.5 million

Utah
> Gun sales this year: 158,066
> Gun sales per capita: 47.4 per 1,000
> Total population: 3.3 million

[in-text-ad-2]

Vermont
> Gun sales this year: 6,900
> Gun sales per capita: 10.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 645,570

Virginia
> Gun sales this year: 90,239
> Gun sales per capita: 10.4 per 1,000
> Total population: 8.6 million

[in-text-ad]

Washington
> Gun sales this year: 108,721
> Gun sales per capita: 14.0 per 1,000
> Total population: 7.7 million

[recirclink id=1068027]

West Virginia
> Gun sales this year: 29,768
> Gun sales per capita: 16.7 per 1,000
> Total population: 1.8 million

Wisconsin
> Gun sales this year: 106,469
> Gun sales per capita: 18.1 per 1,000
> Total population: 5.9 million

[in-text-ad-2]

Wyoming
> Gun sales this year: 10,592
> Gun sales per capita: 18.3 per 1,000
> Total population: 578,803

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.