Gun Ownership by Gender in 2026: Closing the Gender Gap

By Cassandra McBride, Last Updated: Mar 30, 2026

Report Highlights: The gap between male and female gun owners in the United States has narrowed.

Female gun ownership increased by 5-15% since 1980, while male gun ownership decreased by 11%.
Between 39 and 43% of U.S. men (65-71 million) reported owning firearms in 2025.
Between 17 and 25% of U.S. women (29-43 million) reported owning firearms in 2025.
In 2025, 77% of male and female gun owners cited personal protection as a reason for owning guns.

Ammo.com is a reputable resource. View all sources used in this article HERE.

Methodology

Ammo.com sources information from reputable publications. Due to reporting limitations and the Fifth Amendment, firearm ownership data are largely gathered from self-reporting surveys and NICS background checks. We used various surveys and studies to analyze gun ownership trends to provide the most accurate data available.

Gun Ownership by Gender by Year

Recent surveys indicate that 32% of Americans (approximately 107.5 million) personally own firearms. In 2025, an average of 39% of men and 19% of women claimed gun ownership in self-reporting surveys.^{(1, 2, 4, 5, 14, 15)}

Gun Ownership Breakdown by Gender and Year

Gun Ownership Among Men in the U.S.

A smaller percentage of men owned firearms in 2025 than in previous years.

In 1980, 50% of men (about 55 million) owned firearms. Surveys show that male gun ownership dropped to 40-43% in the early 2000s through early 2010s. More recent surveys estimate male firearm ownership at 39% to 43%.

Male gun ownership declined by 7 to 11% between 1980 and 2025. It has stagnated between 39% and 43% for the past two decades, with a 2025 YouGov survey showing ownership at 28%.^{(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 15)}

Gun Ownership Among Women in the U.S.

Women report owning guns at much higher rates in 2025 than they did in 1980.

In 1980, only 10% of women reported owning a firearm. Female gun ownership increased to 15% during the 2000s and 2010s. It rose again between 2020 and 2025 by 5 to 10%, with up to 25% of women now claiming personal gun ownership on surveys.^{(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 15)}

Why Do Men and Women Choose to Own Guns in the U.S?

In 2025, most male and female gun owners cited protection as a major reason for owning a gun. Of all gun owners in the U.S., 77% stated they own firearms primarily for protection. Additionally, 32% claimed to own firearms for hunting; 30% for recreation; 15% as part of a collection; and 7% for work-related purposes.^{(2, 6, 15)}

The motivation for owning a gun varies between males and females. Women are much more likely to keep a firearm for protection, whereas men own them for more varied reasons.

In a 2017 survey, 92% of female gun owners and 91% of male gun owners cited protection as one of their reasons for owning a gun. Of these, 27% of women and 8% of men cited personal safety as their only reason for owning a firearm.⁽⁶⁾

Although women have historically owned firearms at lower rates, their motivations for owning them are primarily the same as men’s.

A 1992 study investigated female gun ownership specifically. Over 50,000 women responded, with 42% reporting that they had been victims of a crime at some point in their lives. Additionally, 40% cited self-defense and safety as their primary reasons for owning a gun.⁽⁹⁾

Why Men and Women Choose to Own Guns in the US

Average Number of Guns Owned by Men and Women in the U.S.

The average American gun owner reports owning between one and five firearms.

Available data suggest that men typically own more firearms per person than women.

A 2015 study found that 74% of male gun owners have more than one firearm, compared to 53% of female gun owners.⁽⁵⁾

Men vs. Women Gun Type Preference

In a 2015 survey, 40.4% of female gun owners reported only owning handguns, compared to 20.7% of male gun owners.⁽⁵⁾

Before 2014, research suggests that women preferred long guns over handguns, while men favored a more balanced mix of both firearm types.⁽¹⁴⁾

First Time Owning a Gun

In 2020, there were 8.4 million first-time gun buyers. This number dropped to 5.4 million in 2021. The pandemic surge in gun buying coincided with women becoming first-time gun owners at unprecedented rates. According to a 2022 survey of gun retailers, 33% of new gun buyers in 2021 were women.^{(10, 11)}

Another survey revealed that nearly half of all first-time gun buyers between 2019 and 2021 were women. In 2019, 50% of first-time buyers were women. Women were 47% of first-time buyers in both following two years.

The data in this section rely on self-reporting surveys conducted between 2019 and 2021. The results of these surveys vary, as the first includes responses from gun dealers; the second, responses from buyers.

Gun Sales by Age and Gender

Men typically purchase their first firearm as soon as they can, while women often delay their first gun purchase until later in life. On average, men become gun owners at the age of 19, whereas women typically purchase their first firearm at the age of 27.⁽⁷⁾

Women are less likely to engage in shooting activities or research firearm-related topics as frequently as men.

Women are less likely to watch TV programs or videos about guns (33% vs. 43%).
28% of female gun owners visit firearm-related websites, compared to 39% of male gun owners.
40% of female gun owners say their friends own guns, compared to 54% of male gun owners.

All data in this section are sourced from self-reporting surveys.

Gun Owners and Gun Access by Gender

In 2025, 42% of American adults lived in a home with a firearm. As there are over 131.4 million households in the U.S., this means approximately 55.2 million households contained a firearm.^{(4, 5, 15)}

Only 5% of male non-gun owners report living in a household with a firearm, compared to 15% of female non-gun owners. The rate of men living in homes with guns has remained unchanged since 2017, while the rate for non-gun-owning females has shifted.

In 2017, 44% of households contained at least one firearm. At that time, 5% of men lived in homes with guns without personally owning one, whereas 18% of women lived in homes with guns without being gun owners themselves.⁽⁶⁾

Gun Control Support by Gender

Women have consistently supported gun control more than men. In 2001, 66% of women favored stricter gun control, compared to only 39% of men.

Crime rates declined following the expiration of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 2004. Support for gun control also dropped among both men and women, reaching 37% and 50%, respectively, by 2011.

Gun control support surged after the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, with 69% of women and 47% of men in favor. This heightened support persisted until 2020, when rising crime rates led to shifts in public opinion.⁽¹⁾

Per the latest surveys in 2023 and 2024, 51% of males and 64% of females support stricter gun laws.

Wrap-Up

The narrowing gender gap in gun ownership indicates that firearms are increasingly being seen as essential tools for self-defense by women, potentially reshaping the future landscape of gun rights and firearm-related policies in the United States.

Sources

Written by: Cassandra McBride