Methodology

To identify the states with the most registered weapons, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the Firearms Commerce in the United States report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. States are ranked by the number of weapons registered with the ATF in the state for every 100,000 people as of May 2021. 

Weapons registered with the ATF fall into one of six categories: 1) machine guns, defined as a firearm capable of automatically firing more than one shot with a single trigger-pull; 2) silencers, defined as a device that can muffle or suppress the sound of a gunshot; 3) short-barreled rifles, defined as a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches or an overall length less than 26 inches; 4) short-barreled or sawed-off shotguns, defined as a shotgun with one or more barrels less than 18 inches long or an overall length of less than 26 inches; 5) destructive devices, a broad catagory that includes explosives such as bombs or grenades; and 6) any other weapon, a catch-all classification that includes certain firearms that can be concealed in items such as pens or walking canes.