Firearm Acquisition and New Exposure to Household Firearms After the Initial Pandemic Purchasing Surge: Results From the 2024 National Firearms Survey

BACKGROUND: Firearm acquisitions in the United States surged after the onset of the pandemic. The increase, sustained through at least early 2021, resulted from a modest increase in the proportion of long-standing gun owners who purchased firearms (most were White and men) and an unprecedented increase in the proportion of adults who became new gun owners (half were women; half were Hispanic and/or people of color). Little is known about firearm acquisitions beyond 2021. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the number of adults who acquired firearms since 1 January 2021, how many were new owners, and how many other people they newly exposed to household firearms. DESIGN: Probability-based national survey conducted 18 December to 25 December 2024. SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: 4059 firearm owners. MEASUREMENTS: The number and characteristics of respondents who acquired firearms from 2021 to 2024, distinguishing those who already owned firearms from those who did not; among the latter, the number of household members newly exposed to firearms. RESULTS: An estimated 29.8 million adults (95% CI, 28.2 to 31.5 million) acquired firearms from 2021 to 2024; 11.2 million adults (CI, 10.2 to 12.4 million) became new gun owners (4.2% of U.S. adults). The annual number of new owners declined monotonically, from 3.6 million in 2021 to 1.9 million by 2024. Women made up 46.3% (CI, 41.4% to 51.6%) of new owners; 46.1% (CI, 41.0% to 51.4%) were Hispanic and/or people of color; and 7.8 million lived in a household without firearms at the time of their earliest purchase, newly exposing 9.0 million other adults (CI, 7.5 to 10.6 million) and 6.6 million children (CI, 5.2 to 8.0 million) to household firearms. LIMITATION: Retrospective assessment of when respondents purchased firearms. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the need for periodic survey-based assessments of firearm exposure and suggest that the risk for violent death has likely increased substantially for millions of Americans who became new gun owners and for millions of other adults and children who were newly exposed to the risks of living in households with guns. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Joyce Foundation, Fund for a Safer Future, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.