Posted on 01/18/2015 1:15:05 PM PST by Straight Vermonter
The most heavily armed county in the US is (drum roll, please) – Faribanks North Star Borough, Alaska. Second place goes to Tooele County, Utah and third is Nez Perce County, Arizona. City-Data.com compiled the list (We should note there’s no source posted for the city-data list) and Reddit user Ramsesses_Deux created the map.
Texas, one of the most gun friendly states in America, is surprisingly not one of the top 10 most armed counties. The Lone Star State’s first entry is Harris County at no. 73.
1. Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK, pop. 82,840: 59.1%
2. Tooele County, UT (Tooele, Grantsville, Erda), pop. 40,735: 59.1%
3. Nez Perce County, ID (Lewiston, Lapwai, Culdesac), pop. 37,410: 59.0%
4. Armstrong County, PA (Kittanning, Ford City, Leechburg), pop. 72,392: 57.6%
5. Rapides Parish, LA (Alexandria, Pineville, Ball), pop. 126,337: 52.8%
6. Teller County, CO (Woodland Park, Cripple Creek, Green Mountain Falls), pop. 20,555: 52.3%
7. Darlington County, SC (Hartsville, Darlington, North Hartsville), pop. 67,394: 52.1%
8. Franklin County, VT (St. Albans, Swanton, Fairfax), pop. 45,417: 51.7%
9. Randolph County, NC (Asheboro, Archdale, Trinity), pop. 130,454: 51.1%
10. Canyon County, ID (Nampa, Caldwell, Middleton), pop. 131,441: 50.9%
11. Anchorage Municipality, AK, pop. 260,283: 50.0%
12. Laramie County, WY (Cheyenne, Ranchettes, South Greeley), pop. 81,607: 49.6%
13. Davis County, UT (Layton, Bountiful, Clearfield), pop. 238,994: 48.8%
14. Yellowstone County, MT (Billings, Laurel, Lockwood), pop. 129,352: 48.7%
15. Franklin County, PA (Chambersburg, Waynesboro, Greencastle), pop. 129,313: 48.5%
16. Pennington County, SD (Rapid City, Rapid Valley, Box Elder), pop. 88,565: 48.5%
17. Terrebonne Parish, LA (Houma, Bayou Cane, Schriever), pop. 104,503: 47.9%
18. Ouachita Parish, LA (Monroe, West Monroe, Claiborne), pop. 147,250: 47.6%
19. Florence County, SC (Florence, Lake City, Timmonsville), pop. 125,761: 47.6%
20. Orange County, VT (Randolph, Williamstown, Bradford), pop. 28,226: 47.0%
21. Calcasieu Parish, LA (Lake Charles, Sulphur, Moss Bluff), pop. 183,577: 46.4%
22. Weber County, UT (Ogden, Roy, North Ogden), pop. 196,533: 46.3%
23. Kanawha County, WV (Charleston, South Charleston, St. Albans), pop. 200,073: 45.2%
24. Ada County, ID (Boise, Meridian, Eagle), pop. 300,904: 45.0%
25. Pulaski County, AR (Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville), pop. 361,474: 44.7%
26. Minnehaha County, SD (Sioux Falls, Brandon, Dell Rapids), pop. 148,281: 44.7%
27. Westmoreland County, PA (Greensburg, New Kensington, Lower Burrell), pop. 369,993: 44.0%
28. Pinal County, AZ (Apache Junction, Casa Grande, Florence), pop. 179,727: 43.6%
29. St. Tammany Parish, LA (Slidell, Mandeville, Covington), pop. 191,268: 42.5%
30. Caddo Parish, LA (Shreveport, Vivian, Greenwood), pop. 252,161: 42.2%
31. Sandoval County, NM (Rio Rancho, Corrales, Bernalillo), pop. 89,908: 42.1%
32. Hinds County, MS (Jackson, Clinton, Byram), pop. 250,800: 41.9%
33. Jefferson County, AL (Birmingham, Hoover, Bessemer), pop. 662,047: 41.0%
34. Anoka County, MN (Coon Rapids, Blaine, Fridley), pop. 298,084: 40.6%
35. East Baton Rouge Parish, LA (Baton Rouge, Shenandoah, Baker), pop. 412,852: 40.0%
36. Windsor County, VT (Hartford, Springfield, Windsor), pop. 57,418: 40.0%
37. Henderson County, NC (Hendersonville, Fletcher, East Flat Rock), pop. 89,173: 39.8%
38. Clark County, WA (Vancouver, Orchards, Salmon Creek), pop. 345,238: 39.5%
39. Cass County, ND (Fargo, West Fargo, Casselton), pop. 123,138: 39.2%
40. Buncombe County, NC (Asheville, Black Mountain, Royal Pines), pop. 206,330: 39.1%
41. Washoe County, NV (Reno, Sparks, Sun Valley), pop. 339,486: 38.7%
42. Salt Lake County, UT (Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Sandy), pop. 898,387: 38.3%
43. Forsyth County, NC (Winston-Salem, Kernersville, Clemmons), pop. 306,067: 38.1%
44. Grafton County, NH (Lebanon, Hanover, Plymouth), pop. 81,743: 36.9%
45. Lancaster County, PA (Lancaster, Ephrata, Elizabethtown), pop. 470,658: 36.8%
46. Sedgwick County, KS (Wichita, Derby, Haysville), pop. 452,869: 36.7%
47. Clackamas County, OR (Lake Oswego, Oregon City, West Linn), pop. 338,391: 35.9%
48. Shelby County, TN (Memphis, Bartlett, Germantown), pop. 897,472: 35.7%
49. Sarpy County, NE (Bellevue, Papillion, La Vista), pop. 122,595: 35.6%
50. Cleveland County, OK (Norman, Moore, Noble), pop. 208,016: 35.3%
51. Richland County, SC (Columbia, St. Andrews, Dentsville), pop. 320,677: 34.9%
52. Tulsa County, OK (Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Owasso), pop. 563,299: 34.3%
53. York County, ME (Biddeford, Sanford, Saco), pop. 186,742: 33.7%
54. Sussex County, DE (Milford, Seaford, Georgetown), pop. 156,638: 33.7%
55. Kent County, DE (Dover, Smyrna, Highland Acres), pop. 126,697: 33.7%
56. El Paso County, CO (Colorado Springs, Fountain, Cimarron Hills), pop. 516,929: 33.5%
57. Snohomish County, WA (Everett, Edmonds, Lynnwood), pop. 606,024: 33.4%
58. Frederick County, MD (Frederick, Ballenger Creek, Green Valley), pop. 195,277: 33.3%
59. Dakota County, MN (Eagan, Burnsville, Apple Valley), pop. 355,904: 33.2%
60. Duval County, FL (Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach), pop. 778,879: 32.8%
61. Merrimack County, NH (Concord, Hooksett, Franklin), pop. 136,225: 32.7%
62. Jefferson Parish, LA (Metairie, Kenner, Marrero), pop. 455,466: 32.3%
63. Jackson County, MO (Kansas City, Independence, Blue Springs), pop. 654,880: 32.2%
64. Guilford County, NC (Greensboro, High Point, Summerfield), pop. 421,048: 32.1%
65. Shawnee County, KS (Topeka, Silver Lake, Auburn), pop. 169,871: 32.0%
66. Yuma County, AZ (Yuma, Fortuna Foothills, San Luis), pop. 160,026: 31.8%
67. Lancaster County, NE (Lincoln, Waverly, Hickman), pop. 250,291: 31.8%
68. Washington County, OR (Beaverton, Hillsboro, Aloha), pop. 445,342: 31.6%
69. Jefferson County, CO (Lakewood, Arvada, Wheat Ridge), pop. 527,056: 31.5%
70. Polk County, IA (Des Moines, West Des Moines, Urbandale), pop. 374,601: 31.0%
71. Macomb County, MI (Warren, Sterling Heights, Clinton), pop. 788,149: 30.9%
72. Oklahoma County, OK (Oklahoma City, Edmond, Midwest City), pop. 660,448: 30.8%
73. Harris County, TX (Houston, Pasadena, Baytown), pop. 3,400,578: 30.4%
74. Bernalillo County, NM (Albuquerque, South Valley, North Valley), pop. 556,678: 30.2%
75. Johnson County, KS (Overland Park, Olathe, Shawnee), pop. 451,086: 30.0%
76. Pierce County, WA (Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup), pop. 700,820: 29.9%
77. Maricopa County, AZ (Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale), pop. 3,072,149: 29.7%
78. Adams County, CO (Aurora, Westminster, Thornton), pop. 363,857: 29.3%
79. Clark County, NV (Las Vegas, Paradise, Henderson), pop. 1,375,765: 29.2%
80. Douglas County, NE (Omaha, Ralston, Elkhorn), pop. 463,585: 28.1%
81. Oakland County, MI (Farmington Hills, Troy, Southfield), pop. 1,194,156: 27.9%
82. Dallas County, TX (Dallas, Garland, Irving), pop. 2,218,899: 27.7%
83. Chittenden County, VT (Burlington, Colchester, South Burlington), pop. 146,571: 27.7%
84. Windham County, CT (Windham, Willimantic, Plainfield), pop. 109,091: 27.6%
85. Lake County, IN (Gary, Hammond, East Chicago), pop. 484,564: 27.5%
86. Pima County, AZ (Tucson, Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills), pop. 843,746: 27.2%
87. Davidson County, TN (Goodlettsville, Forest Hills, Oak Hill), pop. 569,891: 27.0%
88. Jefferson County, KY (Louisville, Jeffersontown, Valley Station), pop. 693,604: 26.5%
89. Cobb County, GA (Marietta, Smyrna, Mableton), pop. 607,751: 26.4%
90. Mahoning County, OH (Youngstown, Boardman, Austintown), pop. 257,555: 26.3%
91. Cumberland County, ME (Portland, South Portland, Brunswick), pop. 265,612: 26.0%
92. Chester County, PA (West Chester, Phoenixville, Coatesville), pop. 433,501: 25.1%
93. Anne Arundel County, MD (Glen Burnie, Annapolis, Severn), pop. 489,656: 25.1%
94. Arapahoe County, CO (Southglenn, Littleton, Englewood), pop. 487,967: 24.8%
95. Montgomery County, OH (Dayton, Kettering, Huber Heights), pop. 559,062: 24.7%
96. St. Louis County, MO (Florissant, Chesterfield, University City), pop. 1,016,315: 24.7%
97. Marion County, IN (Indianapolis, Lawrence, Beech Grove), pop. 860,454: 24.7%
98. Bucks County, PA (Levittown, Morrisville, Croydon), pop. 597,635: 24.6%
99. Hennepin County, MN (Minneapolis, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park), pop. 1,116,200: 24.5%
100. Rockingham County, NH (Derry, Salem, Londonderry), pop. 277,359: 24.4%
101. Ramsey County, MN (St. Paul, Maplewood, Roseville), pop. 511,035: 24.4%
Data is probably BS, but I bet a good guess might come from wills and property sales/transfers that happen at death.
I’d be shocked if the household gun ownership rate in small population counties (especially in the West) wasn’t close to 90%.
I'm sure that's true. But did you know that in MA there is a mandatory one year sentence for anyone who is found in possession of an unregistered gun? The MA state government wants to know exactly who is armed. If you try to sneak something past them, they will totally destroy your life. No ifs, no ands, no buts.
My guess is from the latest census. Of course that is self reported data for what that is worth.
this chart is cr@p. In the emergency room I’d say 90% of the doctors own weapons, 80% of the nurses own pistols and over 50% hunt or have husbands that hunt. Just from random conversations with parents on volleyball team, tennis team, track team MOST of the parents have firearms and I’m positive that there are some neighborhoods in rural Texas that 100% of the households have a firearm of some sort.
Agreed. I know there are several thousand registered handguns here in Jackson county which isn’t a huge percentage out of 120,000 or so people but 90% of the people I know have several unregistered shotguns and rifles. Even one of my liberal cousins in Kalamazoo is an avid shooter and has a couple of rifles.
I'm in cali and there is no way in hell we have to register all of the weapons we have. Sorry for you....
No, I really don’t like it...STATISTicians and the government should not know this kind of information...
Not talking CCW. Just to own a gun depends on the whim of a guy who wants his fellow LEOs not to fear for their lives.
But, hey, it's not like the right to keep and bears armss is infringed in any way ...
I think the only reason #86 Pima County, AZ is in the top 100 is because my son lives in the Catalina Foothills. LOL!
This map is questionable.
Before all my guns were lost in that canoeing accident you could've counted me among the "yes" respondents....
Who has all the .22LR?
Well given that most gun purchases have to go through a Brady check, which means the fed gov finds out about them it’s not terribly difficult to divide gun purchases by population and there you. And no surprised Alaska would head the list, it’s a wild place filled with wild critters, pretty everybody needs a gun if only for the noise.
SIL and family live in #4 - Armstrong county. She says they can’t find .22 shells.
As firearms ownership is increasingly politicized, and owners duck intrusive survey takers, measures of ownership will only become less reliable.
http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographics/
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“There is no definitive data source from the government or elsewhere on how many Americans own guns or how gun ownership rates have changed over time. Also, public opinion surveys provide conflicting results: Some show a decline in the number of households with guns, but another does not.”
“The General Social Survey (GSS), conducted roughly every two years by the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, with principal funding from the National Science Foundation, provides a widely-used look at the rate of gun ownership over time. The GSS data show a substantial decline in the shares of both households and individuals with guns. When the GSS first asked about gun ownership in 1973, 49% reported having a gun or revolver in their home or garage. In 2012, 34% said they had a gun in their home or garage. When the survey first asked about personal gun ownership in 1980, 29% said a gun in their home personally belonged to them. This stands at 22% in the 2012 GSS survey.”
Trayvon won’t be polar bear hunting there.
Can't be good!
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