Immigrants Underrepresented Among Gun Owners

It is commonly known that the gun community is the most diverse group of people in the United States, including all races, age groups, religions, and genders.

As an immigrant myself, I have always been curious about the subgroup of immigrant gun owners. What does our statistical makeup look like? Where do we come from, and what does gun ownership look like relative to the total population?

First off, some background regarding the U.S. as a whole: According to a News2A article, there are nearly 100 million gun owners. Between 400 and 500 million guns are civilian-owned. That means there are nearly two guns for every adult in this country. Of course, not every adult has firearms, and this is only average, which means that if you are a gun owner, you likely have more than two. I always like to say guns are like tattoos. I don’t know anybody who only has one. But more importantly, this also means that gun ownership is normal in America.

For comparison, there are about 1 million gun owners in Germany, a country of nearly 85 million, possessing 5.5 million guns. Cute! However, this makes Germany the most armed country in all of Europe. Still a laughable number when compared to the U.S. The big difference here is that gun ownership in the U.S. is a right, whereas in Europe it is a privilege.

As far as the makeup of the U.S. population by ethnicity goes, according to PEW Research Center, it breaks down into the following proportions: 38% white, 24% Black, 20% Latino, 10% Asian. So far, so good, but those are not really the numbers I was after.

Since I am an active member in the gun community and involved in Second Amendment activism, whenever I attend a city council meeting, a rally, or some other event, I have typically observed the more active portion of the gun community to be a very homogenous crowd – mostly old white men, which I am only a decade or two away from becoming myself. But from my personal experience as a firearms instructor and a range safety officer at my local club, as well as being a podcast host, I know that this is not representative of gun owners in general. Further, I found that many immigrants I have met exercise their gun rights behind closed doors and out of the public eye.

Again, being German, I like hard numbers and concrete facts, and once more, I was disappointed. When I lived in my native Germany, I did not recall ever seeing any government form where I had to check a box indicating my race. It’s not that important, and we really don’t care. But given that self-identification based on race and other factors seems so important, almost an obsession in the U.S., I find it astonishing how difficult the research for this article was.

It is frustrating to me that there are no real numbers available, given that almost 25% of the U.S. population is either immigrants (about 13%) or their American-born children (about 12%), according to the latest U.S. Census. I have found that comprehensive statistics on firearm ownership among immigrants in the United States, broken down by specific countries of origin, are not readily available. However, existing research provides insights into firearm ownership rates among immigrant populations, particularly within Latino and Asian communities.

A 2023 study focusing on California residents found that 6% of immigrants reported owning a firearm. Within this group, 4.1% of Latino immigrants and 7.2% of Asian immigrants owned at least one firearm. In comparison, firearm ownership rates were higher among non-naturalized citizens, with 18.1% of Latino citizens and 12.6% of Asian citizens reporting firearm ownership. The overall rate of gun ownership in the U.S. is roughly 33%, a large discrepancy compared to only 6% of immigrants. And just for clarification, when we talk about immigrants, we mean lawful permanent residents and naturalized citizens, in other words, foreign-born lawful residents and citizens.

My personal theory based on conversations and anecdotal evidence, as well as my interpretation of the little data I found is that because most immigrants come from countries where gun ownership is either illegal or frowned upon, and thus often either lack an interest in becoming a gun owner or lack the knowledge of how to legally become one. This is reflected in the fact that gun ownership among Latino citizens is nearly 4.5 times higher than among their non-citizen counterparts and 75% higher among Asian citizens versus Asian immigrants.

Further, most immigrants come to the U.S. seeking a better life and view their new home as an opportunity and are thus much more cautious, and make a conscientious effort to be law-abiding to make their American dream come true. A consideration native born Americans do not have to make, as their ability to remain in the U.S. does not depend on their criminal record, or lack thereof. Of course, gun ownership in of itself is usually not illegal, but given the fact that this is not the case for many of the origin countries of immigrants in the U.S., one can see how that would discourage someone from even exploring gun ownership.

Bridgewater State University found that while specific data by country of origin is scarce, these studies suggest that firearm ownership rates among immigrants vary by community and generational status. Further research is needed to provide more detailed statistics on firearm ownership among immigrants from specific countries of origin.

Nationally, data on firearm ownership among immigrants is limited. This 2021 study using data from the General Social Survey examined gun ownership rates and opinions on gun control among immigrants and U.S.-born individuals. The study found that second and third-generation immigrants were more likely to own a gun and oppose gun permits compared to first-generation immigrants, which supports my theory.

In the meantime, we can confidently say that there is a need for mentorship among immigrants to encourage them to fully exercise all their God-given and Constitutionally protected rights. What we can do to help our immigrant neighbors integrate well and quickly is to be open and unapologetic about being a gun owner and sharing our experiences.

While it can be a shock, coming from a non-gun-owning culture to find out that your neighbors own and even carry guns daily, they will hopefully get to know us as friendly regular people who welcome them and invite them into our communities. We can take someone to the range and show them how we are safe members of the community. And most importantly, show them that gun ownership is normal, a right to be cherished and protected.