There are over one billion firearms in the world today, including 857 million in civilian hands - with American men and women the dominant owners, according to a study.
The Small Arms Survey says 393 million of the civilian-held firearms, 46 per cent, are in the US, which is "more than those held by civilians in the other top 25 countries combined."
The report said the numbers include legal and illegal firearms in civilian hands, ranging from improvised craft weapons to factory-made handguns, rifles, shotguns and, in some countries, even machine guns. The estimate of over 1 billion firearms worldwide at the end of 2017 also includes 133 million held by government military forces and 22.7 million by law enforcement agencies, it said.
It is a significantly higher estimate than the 875 million firearms estimated in the last survey in 2007, and the 650 million civilian-held firearms at that time.
- AP
