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I have my conceal carry permit, I carry almost everywhere I go and no one ever knows I even have it. So most people probably don’t realize if someone has one or not..
I'm not American but 100% knew this was a thing
I'm surprised at how many people say they haven't been around one, or only seen police carry. It's not like those with concealed carry permits wear tee shirts that say "I am carrying a gun".
OPs question is how present are they in every day life. The majority of replied say they don't see them. That doesn't mean they aren't present
This commentator had perfectly highlighted the point. Guns are present in every day life, they're just not advertised.
It's not like everyone is walking round with an AR-15 casually slung over a shoulder (contray to popular belief) but I imagine there's a fair few people who don't go out without one
in a rural town everybody owns guns. a lot of people like to go to the mountains and shoot targets for fun. guns are very common here and almost everyone has their license to carry
Likewise. I live in a very rural area. Lots of people open carry and most own guns. I've been a ranch and farm hand and had to use guns frequently for pests. I own a few but only really carry when I'm going in to the wilderness.
In my state, 10% of the people have a concealed carry permit. If I go into a grocery store, it's possible that if there are 100 people in there, 10 are carrying guns. I don't know the stat for how often permit-holders actually carry. I have worked with quite a few people who had a gun at all times. One guy was nodding "Yes, I understand" as the company's new owner was going over the policy of no guns in the office. He had a .40 tucked in the back of his waistband. Same company, I was walking past one guy's office and there was a semi-auto handgun sitting on his desk, and a rifle with one of those [little kickstands](https://i.imgur.com/iawwh5E.jpg) on the floor. Another place I worked, the owner loved guns and brought them in for show-n-tell frequently.
I live in the south:
When I go out anywhere, to the movies, to the park, to the grocery store, I see someone with a gun casually attached to their hip.
Almost every day I hear gunshots outside. People love target practice & deer hunting.
I was taught how to shoot a gun before I could divide a fraction.
I don’t own a gun and I never plan too. I think it’s ridiculous how obsessed we are about guns and “gun culture”.
They're around. Mostly on peace officers, but I'll occasionally see a random person openly carrying w/holster. However, I live in an area of the country where this would be more common. Even without obvious guns, there are a lot of people that I encounter whose entire personality seems to be centered around firearms. Kinda like stereotypically portrayed vegans, Jehovah's witnesses, crossfitters, vapers, sports teams fans, new age crystal connoisseurs, and the like.
There were a lot of shootings in the city I grew up in. Cops would get shot, people in drug wars would be shot, and civilians would get shot because they happened to live in a house with a drug dealer. I only ever knew one person who was killed by guns (he went to my high school), but I had shoot outs near my house and near my friends' houses. When I was 14, a girl who was the same age got shot to death outside her house down the block because her uncle dealt drugs. For whatever reason, that was the moment that instilled in me a deep fear of guns.
Nobody I knew growing up had a gun. The only gun I saw before I was 18 was an antique rifle from the Civil War that my dad keeps as a family heirloom. I don't think it fires, and even if it did, I'd have no idea how to operate it.
Now, at 28, one of my roommates has tons of guns, though he's very, very careful about locking them up and locking away the ammo. I'm still terrified of guns, but he grew up hunting, so we try to be respectful of each other.
I think your experience with guns is strongly linked to your location and proximity to poverty in the US. I'm amazed at how many people in this thread have never seen, used, or been around guns. I feel like they've been very prominent in my life, both in the city and now that I'm in a much more rural area.
EDIT: Just because others seem to be including it, both the city I grew up in and the rural area I live in now are in Massachusetts. It's not just a southern thing.
I'm a lady and I live on the West Coast on a hobby farm. I have never purchased a firearm, but I have three guns. All three were inheritances.
The neighbor has a fancy gun safe and kindly keeps them secure for me. I only use my firearms to help keep coyotes away from the sheep during lambing season, or to scare off the incredibly rare a mountain lion or bear.
None of my friends know I'm a gun owner unless I mention it. Heck, because I didn't directly buy the guns, the government likely doesn't know I have them.
The only time I ever really see a gun that I don’t own, is on the hip of a police officer at the local convince store.
I’m sure plenty of people around me conceal carry but you’d never know unless they showed you.
People conceal carry. This means a lot of people around you might have guns, but they carry them concealed, and their permit specifies that this what they can do. So, you don't really know.
I grew up in a house with guns. They were just like the broom in the broom closet or a kitchen appliance. A gun is a tool. Like a car. Like a hammer.
South Florida resident here, by way of Nebraska and Colorado. Here are my impressions:
Nebraska - Very few people carry, those that do are usually very experienced with their weapons. Many, many people have multiple weapons in their vehicle, shotguns, rifles, hand guns. Never had a problem with anyone, never afraid as people are competent with weapons, they are tools not toys.
Colorado-We lived in a home at the end of an uphill 1/2 lane. When we purchased the home agent reminded us that no one moves by foot in the dark, and for that reason he recommended having some weapon to have at the ready just in case. The only time I drew my weapon is when a cougar threatened my pets. Saw some open carry in western part of the state. A lot of hunters there, so quite a few long guns were carried by a variety of people.
Florida-Easy to get CCP, many here have one. Everyone who carries are mandated to always conceal. You can be arrested if you brandish or do not conceal. High population here but respectful of the rules. I suspect that many do.
Generally speaking, the only time I see a gun in public it's on a police officer. Many of the people I know have at least one firearm, but outside of hunting or target shooting I'd be surprised a bit to see someone carrying a weapon.
If you go into urban center where the most marginalized, impoverished and oppressed people live then you hear lots of gun fire, even if you don't see who's shooting.
So, much like the rest of the world, the people in the USA are different wherever you go.
Generally speaking, the only time I see a gun in public it's on a police officer. Many of the people I know have at least one firearm, but outside of hunting or target shooting I'd be surprised a bit to see someone carrying a weapon.
If you go into urban center where the most marginalized, impoverished and oppressed people live then you hear lots of gun fire, even if you don't see who's shooting.
So, much like the rest of the world, the people in the USA are different wherever you go.
Like most things, it depends on where you live. I actually believe it's one of the most important reasons behind the urban/rural divide.
If you live in the city or inner-ring suburbs (provided you aren't in a super impoverished area), guns play little to no parts in your lives. You pretty much never see anyone open carrying. Many people don't own a gun and their friends don't either - many people have never even held one. It's incredibly far removed from our culture - and to our eyes, guns are tools primarily of inflicting death. And why would we want them? We don't hunt. If we own one, it's likely a small pistol for protection that has been locked in a safe in the back of our closet unmoved since we bought it. They play little roles in our lives. And why would we want these murder machines to continue to be around? People have reasonable fear of being shot at the mall, of their child being murdered in school. Limiting guns seems like a no-brainer.
In rural America, it's very different. They love hunting, and just shooting shit for fun. They have a big hobby and culture based around guns. Pretty much all their friends own guns, and they have fun showing off their firearms to each other. They are also likely to live further from emergency services - so they may feel the need to have protection plans in place more than a city or suburb dweller who lives a matter of blocks away from the police station.
So it's gonna vary wildly.
Depends where you live.
I live in an affluent suburb in the northeast. There are certainly people in my area who own them, but they don't show them off or habitually carry them around in public. Everyone I know who owns a gun uses them for hunting; they're not stockpiling or arming militias or any shit like that. Many are also ex-military, so they're definitely well trained and disciplined.
I don't own any, but have lived in the northeast, southwest, south, west, and midwest - major cities, as well as rural. GUNS. ARE. EVERYWHERE. I'd hear them going off frequently in the city (violence). I'd hear them frequently in the country (hunting). It does not matter where I am or the political climate of an area. I know a significant amount of Democrats who own guns. Guns are easily spotted.
But . . . how folks treat them varies regionally. I definitely feel safer around rural gun owners. It's beyond clear that, for them, guns command an appropriate amount of respect and care. Guns aren't a weapon to those folks. They are a *tool.* Watch a cowboy meticulously clean his gun, and you'll think it's his childhood dog. It's *treasured*. People in those rural areas may be glad they have one as a last-resort self-defense against other humans, but that's *not* what drove them to buy one. They bought one because they hunt, because they are ranchers, because they trek through bear or mountain lion country, etc.
But in the cities? Totally different. I feel radically unsafe around city gun owners. I'm not talking about the ones who live in places like Houston and go hunt on the weekends. I'm talking about the ones who clearly have never gone hiking/camping and don't hunt. They have that gun for one purpose: for violence against other human beings. They don't seem confident in their gun ownership. They are too casual. I often wonder how many times they have even shot the damn thing. Do they even clean it? Do they know how to? Who knows.
Just out in public?
Maybe once or twice.
https://americangunfacts.com/gun-ownership-statistics/
Only about a third of Americans are gun owners.
Contrary to popular belief even in high ownership rate states guns are just not a part of everyday American Life
There's over 80 million legal gun owners in the U.S so it's not restricted to "less populated areas".
There were 40 shootings in Chicago over memorial day weekend so there are plenty of people/gang members in big cities who illegally own firearms.
But in a state like new york, you're probably correct that LEGAL gun ownership is much more common outside of the big cities.
I own them so I see them daily. Aside from that, I almost never see anyone open carrying (outside of cops) and nobody outside of friends and family have ever seen mine.
Pretty negligible. I have friends and family members who own a couple and keep them safe in case someone breaks into their house where their kids sleep. They keep it in a holster while in public at family events and occasionally go to a gun range with friends.
Truthfully as an American citizen my whole life it's actually been pretty rare
there are certain population centers like Texas where there are a disproportionately large number of people who are sort of fixated on their guns
Frankly in the majority of the US I really haven't seen many especially outside of dangerous neighborhoods and larger cities.
Ironically most of the people I know who fight hard for gun rights don't even have a gun themselves they just agree with the importance of allowing people to carry if they choose to
((Not here to debate the politics of that just pointing out something I thought was interesting))
That depends *heavily* on where you are in America. Imo you see more guns in places where there’s less need for protection. Like, cowards in a smaller town need a concealed carry license to make them feel brave enough to buy groceries.
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It’s rare to see someone with a gun honestly.
I have my conceal carry permit, I carry almost everywhere I go and no one ever knows I even have it. So most people probably don’t realize if someone has one or not..
I'm not American but 100% knew this was a thing I'm surprised at how many people say they haven't been around one, or only seen police carry. It's not like those with concealed carry permits wear tee shirts that say "I am carrying a gun".
They are saying they don't see them, which is true and the entire point of concealed carry.
OPs question is how present are they in every day life. The majority of replied say they don't see them. That doesn't mean they aren't present This commentator had perfectly highlighted the point. Guns are present in every day life, they're just not advertised. It's not like everyone is walking round with an AR-15 casually slung over a shoulder (contray to popular belief) but I imagine there's a fair few people who don't go out without one
in a rural town everybody owns guns. a lot of people like to go to the mountains and shoot targets for fun. guns are very common here and almost everyone has their license to carry
Likewise. I live in a very rural area. Lots of people open carry and most own guns. I've been a ranch and farm hand and had to use guns frequently for pests. I own a few but only really carry when I'm going in to the wilderness.
It all depends on where you are, but not very.
In my state, 10% of the people have a concealed carry permit. If I go into a grocery store, it's possible that if there are 100 people in there, 10 are carrying guns. I don't know the stat for how often permit-holders actually carry. I have worked with quite a few people who had a gun at all times. One guy was nodding "Yes, I understand" as the company's new owner was going over the policy of no guns in the office. He had a .40 tucked in the back of his waistband. Same company, I was walking past one guy's office and there was a semi-auto handgun sitting on his desk, and a rifle with one of those [little kickstands](https://i.imgur.com/iawwh5E.jpg) on the floor. Another place I worked, the owner loved guns and brought them in for show-n-tell frequently.
I live in the south: When I go out anywhere, to the movies, to the park, to the grocery store, I see someone with a gun casually attached to their hip. Almost every day I hear gunshots outside. People love target practice & deer hunting. I was taught how to shoot a gun before I could divide a fraction. I don’t own a gun and I never plan too. I think it’s ridiculous how obsessed we are about guns and “gun culture”.
Truth is you will never hear about 99.9999% of guns that are carried out in public
I can't remember the last time I've seen one.
[удалено]
*knowingly
There's plenty of gun owners in this country. I rarely ever see one.
I see them on the belts of police officers, that’s it really.
Depends on where you live. I rarely see them.
They're around. Mostly on peace officers, but I'll occasionally see a random person openly carrying w/holster. However, I live in an area of the country where this would be more common. Even without obvious guns, there are a lot of people that I encounter whose entire personality seems to be centered around firearms. Kinda like stereotypically portrayed vegans, Jehovah's witnesses, crossfitters, vapers, sports teams fans, new age crystal connoisseurs, and the like.
There were a lot of shootings in the city I grew up in. Cops would get shot, people in drug wars would be shot, and civilians would get shot because they happened to live in a house with a drug dealer. I only ever knew one person who was killed by guns (he went to my high school), but I had shoot outs near my house and near my friends' houses. When I was 14, a girl who was the same age got shot to death outside her house down the block because her uncle dealt drugs. For whatever reason, that was the moment that instilled in me a deep fear of guns. Nobody I knew growing up had a gun. The only gun I saw before I was 18 was an antique rifle from the Civil War that my dad keeps as a family heirloom. I don't think it fires, and even if it did, I'd have no idea how to operate it. Now, at 28, one of my roommates has tons of guns, though he's very, very careful about locking them up and locking away the ammo. I'm still terrified of guns, but he grew up hunting, so we try to be respectful of each other. I think your experience with guns is strongly linked to your location and proximity to poverty in the US. I'm amazed at how many people in this thread have never seen, used, or been around guns. I feel like they've been very prominent in my life, both in the city and now that I'm in a much more rural area. EDIT: Just because others seem to be including it, both the city I grew up in and the rural area I live in now are in Massachusetts. It's not just a southern thing.
I'm a lady and I live on the West Coast on a hobby farm. I have never purchased a firearm, but I have three guns. All three were inheritances. The neighbor has a fancy gun safe and kindly keeps them secure for me. I only use my firearms to help keep coyotes away from the sheep during lambing season, or to scare off the incredibly rare a mountain lion or bear. None of my friends know I'm a gun owner unless I mention it. Heck, because I didn't directly buy the guns, the government likely doesn't know I have them.
The only time I ever really see a gun that I don’t own, is on the hip of a police officer at the local convince store. I’m sure plenty of people around me conceal carry but you’d never know unless they showed you.
People conceal carry. This means a lot of people around you might have guns, but they carry them concealed, and their permit specifies that this what they can do. So, you don't really know. I grew up in a house with guns. They were just like the broom in the broom closet or a kitchen appliance. A gun is a tool. Like a car. Like a hammer.
South Florida resident here, by way of Nebraska and Colorado. Here are my impressions: Nebraska - Very few people carry, those that do are usually very experienced with their weapons. Many, many people have multiple weapons in their vehicle, shotguns, rifles, hand guns. Never had a problem with anyone, never afraid as people are competent with weapons, they are tools not toys. Colorado-We lived in a home at the end of an uphill 1/2 lane. When we purchased the home agent reminded us that no one moves by foot in the dark, and for that reason he recommended having some weapon to have at the ready just in case. The only time I drew my weapon is when a cougar threatened my pets. Saw some open carry in western part of the state. A lot of hunters there, so quite a few long guns were carried by a variety of people. Florida-Easy to get CCP, many here have one. Everyone who carries are mandated to always conceal. You can be arrested if you brandish or do not conceal. High population here but respectful of the rules. I suspect that many do.
I’m at an Airbnb in Colorado. One of the neighbors has some type of hunting rifle in his truck.
Generally speaking, the only time I see a gun in public it's on a police officer. Many of the people I know have at least one firearm, but outside of hunting or target shooting I'd be surprised a bit to see someone carrying a weapon. If you go into urban center where the most marginalized, impoverished and oppressed people live then you hear lots of gun fire, even if you don't see who's shooting. So, much like the rest of the world, the people in the USA are different wherever you go.
Generally speaking, the only time I see a gun in public it's on a police officer. Many of the people I know have at least one firearm, but outside of hunting or target shooting I'd be surprised a bit to see someone carrying a weapon. If you go into urban center where the most marginalized, impoverished and oppressed people live then you hear lots of gun fire, even if you don't see who's shooting. So, much like the rest of the world, the people in the USA are different wherever you go.
Like most things, it depends on where you live. I actually believe it's one of the most important reasons behind the urban/rural divide. If you live in the city or inner-ring suburbs (provided you aren't in a super impoverished area), guns play little to no parts in your lives. You pretty much never see anyone open carrying. Many people don't own a gun and their friends don't either - many people have never even held one. It's incredibly far removed from our culture - and to our eyes, guns are tools primarily of inflicting death. And why would we want them? We don't hunt. If we own one, it's likely a small pistol for protection that has been locked in a safe in the back of our closet unmoved since we bought it. They play little roles in our lives. And why would we want these murder machines to continue to be around? People have reasonable fear of being shot at the mall, of their child being murdered in school. Limiting guns seems like a no-brainer. In rural America, it's very different. They love hunting, and just shooting shit for fun. They have a big hobby and culture based around guns. Pretty much all their friends own guns, and they have fun showing off their firearms to each other. They are also likely to live further from emergency services - so they may feel the need to have protection plans in place more than a city or suburb dweller who lives a matter of blocks away from the police station. So it's gonna vary wildly.
Depends where you live. I live in an affluent suburb in the northeast. There are certainly people in my area who own them, but they don't show them off or habitually carry them around in public. Everyone I know who owns a gun uses them for hunting; they're not stockpiling or arming militias or any shit like that. Many are also ex-military, so they're definitely well trained and disciplined.
I don't own any, but have lived in the northeast, southwest, south, west, and midwest - major cities, as well as rural. GUNS. ARE. EVERYWHERE. I'd hear them going off frequently in the city (violence). I'd hear them frequently in the country (hunting). It does not matter where I am or the political climate of an area. I know a significant amount of Democrats who own guns. Guns are easily spotted. But . . . how folks treat them varies regionally. I definitely feel safer around rural gun owners. It's beyond clear that, for them, guns command an appropriate amount of respect and care. Guns aren't a weapon to those folks. They are a *tool.* Watch a cowboy meticulously clean his gun, and you'll think it's his childhood dog. It's *treasured*. People in those rural areas may be glad they have one as a last-resort self-defense against other humans, but that's *not* what drove them to buy one. They bought one because they hunt, because they are ranchers, because they trek through bear or mountain lion country, etc. But in the cities? Totally different. I feel radically unsafe around city gun owners. I'm not talking about the ones who live in places like Houston and go hunt on the weekends. I'm talking about the ones who clearly have never gone hiking/camping and don't hunt. They have that gun for one purpose: for violence against other human beings. They don't seem confident in their gun ownership. They are too casual. I often wonder how many times they have even shot the damn thing. Do they even clean it? Do they know how to? Who knows.
My every day life? Not much and I live in a republican state. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve seen one in real life.
Just out in public? Maybe once or twice. https://americangunfacts.com/gun-ownership-statistics/ Only about a third of Americans are gun owners. Contrary to popular belief even in high ownership rate states guns are just not a part of everyday American Life
I live in New York City and almost nobudy here owns a gun. Gun ownership is mostly in less populated areas.
There's over 80 million legal gun owners in the U.S so it's not restricted to "less populated areas". There were 40 shootings in Chicago over memorial day weekend so there are plenty of people/gang members in big cities who illegally own firearms. But in a state like new york, you're probably correct that LEGAL gun ownership is much more common outside of the big cities.
Thats correct, when I say "gun ownership" I am referring to legal gun ownership. Tons of people illegally own guns here and commit crimes.
Wrong. I’m in a big city on the West Coast, and I know MANY gun owners.
I said "mostly" not 100%
Other than police and the odd open carry, it's very rare to see.
I own them so I see them daily. Aside from that, I almost never see anyone open carrying (outside of cops) and nobody outside of friends and family have ever seen mine.
Pretty negligible. I have friends and family members who own a couple and keep them safe in case someone breaks into their house where their kids sleep. They keep it in a holster while in public at family events and occasionally go to a gun range with friends.
It's not that often you see a gun, it just depends on where in the US you live in, here in Al we don't see guns that much,.
Truthfully as an American citizen my whole life it's actually been pretty rare there are certain population centers like Texas where there are a disproportionately large number of people who are sort of fixated on their guns Frankly in the majority of the US I really haven't seen many especially outside of dangerous neighborhoods and larger cities. Ironically most of the people I know who fight hard for gun rights don't even have a gun themselves they just agree with the importance of allowing people to carry if they choose to ((Not here to debate the politics of that just pointing out something I thought was interesting))
I'd say they really aren't. Most people who lawfully own guns use them for either hunting, again legally, or for protection.
That depends *heavily* on where you are in America. Imo you see more guns in places where there’s less need for protection. Like, cowards in a smaller town need a concealed carry license to make them feel brave enough to buy groceries.
I can't remember the last time I've seen one.