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Table 3 Demographic characteristics of veteran gun owners by firearm type

From: Firearm ownership among American veterans: findings from the 2015 National Firearm Survey

 

Owns only handgun(s)

Owns only long gun(s)

Owns multiple types

 

%

95% CI

%

95% CI:

%

95% CI:

All veteran gun owners (n = 159)

22.8

(18.2, 28.0)

20.7

(16.7, 25.4)

56.5

(51.1, 61.8)

Age

 18–29 (n = 4)

23.2

(6.5, 60.0)

23.4

(5.9, 59.8)

53.4

(23.3, 81.3)

 30–44 (n = 13)

18.0

(7.5, 48.3)

22.2

(8.0, 48.3)

59.8

(38.7, 77.8)

 45–59 (n = 40)

25.7

(16.2, 38.2)

18.6

(11.7, 28.1)

55.8

(44.4, 66.6)

 60+ (n = 103)

22.2

(16.9, 28.6)

21.3

(16.5, 26.9)

56.6

(50.0, 62.9)

Sex

 Male (n = 152)

23.1

(18.4, 28.6)

21.0

(16.8, 25.8)

55.9

(50.4, 61.4)

 Female (n = 8)

17.0

(7.1, 35.6)

16.0

(6.5, 34.4)

67.0

(46.8, 82.4)

Race

 Non-Hispanic white (n = 133)

17.7

(14.1, 22.0)

22.3

(17.8, 27.6)

60.0

(54.5, 65.3)

 Non-Hispanic Black (n = 14)

67.1

(42.7, 84.8)

8.4

(2.8, 22.9)

24.6

(9.9, 49.1)

 Non-Hispanic other (n = 6)

23.6

(5.6, 61.6)

17.7

(5.6, 43.5)

58.8

(30.9, 82.0)

 Hispanic (n = 7)

31.4

(15.3, 53.6)

16.7

(6.5, 36.5)

51.9

(32.1, 71.1)

Marital status

 Married/Partnered (n = 124)

22.0

(17.4, 27.4)

20.6

(16.4, 25.5)

57.4

(51.7, 62.9)

 Widowed/Separated (n = 30)

22.7

(11.3, 40.5)

22.1

(11.9, 37.5)

55.1

(39.8, 69.6)

 Never married (n = 6)

39.1

(15.3, 69.6)

15.3

(4.0, 44.0)

45.6

(18.0, 76.2)

Child under 18yo in the household

 Yes (n = 22)

25.7

(16.1, 38.4)

23.2

(14.0, 35.9)

51.1

(38.5, 63.6)

 No (n = 138)

22.3

(17.4, 28.1)

20.3

(16.0, 25.4)

57.4

(51.4, 63.1)

Grew up with a firearm in the home

 Yes (n = 118)

16.4

(12.0, 22.1)

20.3

(16.2, 25.1)

63.3

(57.3, 68.8)

 No (n = 35)

40.2

(28.4, 53.2)

23.5

(13.5, 37.6)

36.4

(25.8, 48.5)

 Don’t know/refused (n = 5)

47.5

(22.7, 73.5)

12.1

(2.5, 42.5)

40.4

(18.0, 67.6)

Education

 Less than High School (n = 4)

25.2

(7.7, 57.6)

10.0

(2.3, 34.3)

64.9

(34.9, 86.4)

 High school/some college (n = 112)

24.1

(18.4, 30.9)

18.8

(14.4, 24.1)

57.1

(50.5, 63.6)

 BA or more (n = 42)

19.0

(12.7, 27.3)

27.0

(18.7, 37.2)

54.1

(44.7, 63.2)

Community

 Urban (n = 29)

38.2

(25.6, 52.6)

15.7

(9.4, 25.1)

46.1

(33.8, 59.0)

 Suburban (n = 71)

21.3

(16.1, 27.6)

19.1

(14.2, 25.2)

59.6

(52.6, 66.2)

 Rural (n = 58)

16.5

(9.8, 26.6)

25.4

(17.6, 35.1)

58.1

(48.0, 67.6)

Political views

 Liberal (n = 19)

22.8

(13.2, 36.5)

21.4

(12.3, 34.6)

55.8

(41.8, 69.0)

 Moderate (n = 58)

28.5

(20.8, 37.6)

18.1

(12.7, 25.1)

53.5

(44.9, 61.8)

 Conservative (n = 80)

18.9

(12.9, 26.7)

22.7

(16.7, 30.2)

58.4

(50.3, 66.1)

Geographic region

 Northeast (n = 21)

20.9

(11.3, 35.3)

27.6

(17.3, 41.1)

51.5

(37.5, 65.2)

 Midwest (n = 32)

14.9

(9.3, 23.1)

27.8

(18.7, 39.2)

57.3

(46.2, 67.6)

 South (n = 74)

28.7

(21.0, 37.9)

15.8

(10.5, 23.0)

55.5

(46.9, 63.9)

 West (n = 32)

18.0

(11.6, 26.7)

20.6

(12.9, 31.2)

61.5

(50.8, 71.2)

Branch of service

 Army (n = 77)

22.7

(16.2, 30.8)

16.9

(11.9, 23.4)

60.4

(52.2, 68.1)

 Navy (n = 30)

26.3

(15.4, 41.0)

21.1

(13.5, 31.4)

52.6

(40.4, 64.5)

 Air Force (n = 30)

21.4

(13.9, 31.4)

20.7

(13.8, 29.9)

57.9

(47.8, 67.4)

 Marine Corps (n = 14)

21.6

(8.9, 43.7)

35.3

(17.0, 59.3)

43.1

(25.0, 63.1)

 Coast Guard (n = 3)

8.9

(0.1, 61.6)

35.0

(3.4, 89.2)

56.0

(10.8, 93.1)

Recent military service

 Yes (n = 18)

27.3

(15.4, 43.6)

11.8

(5.3, 24.3)

60.9

(45.4, 74.4)

 No (n = 140)

22.3

(17.5, 28.0)

21.4

(17.1, 26.5)

56.3

(50.5, 62.0)

Use VHA services

 Yes (n = 36)

24.5

(16.7, 34.4)

19.6

(11.5, 31.3)

55.9

(44.9, 66.4)

 No (n = 122)

22.3

(17.0, 28.7)

21.1

(16.7, 26.4)

56.6

(50.3, 62.7)

  1. VHA, Veterans Health Administration. “Use VHA services” indicates a veteran who reports receiving any healthcare through the VHA in the last 12 months
  2. Recent veterans include those whose last year of active duty was 2002 or later
  3. All n’s are reported based on weighted values