Ohio is among the top 10 states with the most gun sales, study says

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio is among the top 10 states that sold the most guns in 2023, a new analysis shows. 

In the first four months of 2024, nearly 5.5 million firearms were sold nationwide, averaging almost 1.4 million each month. SafeHomes.org, a safety product review website, tracked gun sales using data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System to discover which states sold the most firearms in 2023. 

Ohio had the sixth-highest number of gun sales in the country at 583,314, according to the study. Population size largely influenced what states had the most gun sales. Ohio is the seventh most populated state in the country, according to the U.S. Census. 

The most populous states – Texas, Florida and California – had the highest total number of gun sales. Texas had 1,347,589 gun sales, Florida had 1,316,471 and California had 1,043,421. The completed top 10 includes Pennsylvania (841,523), Tennessee (633,015), Ohio (583,314), Virginia (581,698), Michigan (555,650), Missouri (520,488) and Illinois (405,452).

However, when SafeHomes adjusted the data to account for population size, Ohio did not make the top 10. Ohio sold 668 guns per 10,000 residents aged 21 and older in 2023, ranking 32 out of 50 states. Montana sold the most guns per 10,000 residents at 1,586, followed by Wyoming (1,523), Alaska (1,514), Oregon (1,372) and Alabama (1,302).

There was a slight decrease of 4% in overall firearm sales in the Buckeye state from 2022 to 2023, following a national trend.  After gun sales peaked during the pandemic in 2020, the country experienced a decline in the amount of guns purchased "correlating with reduced safety concerns," the analysis stated.

The District of Columbia (4,351), Nebraska (26,987), Rhode Island (28,555), Vermont (46,518) and Delaware (47,080) had the lowest total gun sales in 2023. When accounting for population sizes, the District of Columbia (84), Nebraska (191), New York (226), New Jersey (253) and Massachusetts (255) sold the least guns per 10,000 residents.