NICS Checks: Where Does Your State Rank?

August 3, 2010

(GunReports.com) -- A review of the top states ranked by NICS checks per 100,000 residents — a good indication of actual firearms ownership density — yields some surprises, with Kentucky ranked No. 1 by a long shot.
According to data compiled on The Daily Beast website, the Bluegrass State, with a population of 4,314,113, had an astounding record of NICS background checks—134,028—per 100,000 residents, or about 1.34 checks per resident.
That more than four times the rate of Utah, the second-ranked state, with 30,315 NICS checks per 100K population, and five times that of Montana, 25,745/100K.
Data were compiled from (Dec. 2008 – May 2010).
Rounding out the top ten were:

4, Wyoming (22,827/100K);
5, Alaska (22,273/100K);
6, West Virginia (21,455/100K);
7, South Dakota (19,062/100K);
8, North Dakota (17,829/100K);
9, Arkansas (17,483/100K); and
10, Alabama (16,860/100K)