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Ranking the Best States for Gun Owners in 2022

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August 22, 2022

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For the last decade, consumer firearms publication Guns & Ammo has published an annual ranking of the ‘Best States for Gun Owners’ based on gun-related politics. This year’s rankings, again written by Keith Wood, come from the magazine’s September 2022 issue.

To create the rankings, all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, are judged in five categories – right to carry/CCW, access to “Black Rifles,” use-of-force laws (i.e., Castle Doctrine), prohibition on NFA firearms, and miscellaneous, a catch-all to capture preemptive statutes, the availability of shooting ranges and more. Each category is scored on a scale of 0 to 10 with the total calculated score determining state ranking. Any ties are broken using subjective intangibles, such as a state’s perceived shooting culture.

Below, we focus strictly on the rankings. For in-depth explanations of scoring categories and individual state breakdowns, we encourage you to read the full G&A digital article or pick up a copy of the September issue.

Best & Worst States for Gun Owners

10 Worst States for Gun Owners

  1. New York
  2. Hawaii
  3. New Jersey
  4. California
  5. Massachusetts
  6. District of Columbia (DC)
  7. Connecticut
  8. Maryland
  9. Rhode Island
  10. Delaware
10 Best States for Gun Owners

  1. Alaska
  2. Kansas
  3. Texas
  4. South Dakota
  5. North Dakota
  6. Arizona
  7. Utah
  8. Montana
  9. Idaho
  10. Wyoming

G&A’s Best States for Gun Owners 2022

Below is Guns & Ammo’s full 2022 rankings of the Best States for Gun Owners.

2022 RANK
STATES
51
New York
50
Hawaii
49
New Jersey
48
California
47
Massachusetts
46
District of Columbia
44
Connecticut
45
Maryland
43
Rhode Island
42
Delaware
41
Washington
40
Colorado
39
Illinois
38
Minnesota
37
Vermont
36
Oregon
35
Virginia
34
New Mexico
33
Nebraska
32
Iowa
31
Pennsylvania
30
Maine
29
Nevada
28
North Carolina
27
Florida
26
Louisiana
25
Michigan
24
Wisconsin
23
South Carolina
22
Ohio
21
Mississippi
20
Arkansas
19
West Virginia
18
New Hampshire
17
Missouri
16
Alabama
15
Indiana
14
Kentucky
13
Georgia
12
Tennessee
11
Oklahoma
10
Alaska
9
Kansas
8
Texas
7
South Dakota
6
North Dakota
5
Arizona
4
Utah
3
Montana
2
Idaho
1
Wyoming
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Other State Rankings

While G&A has been ranking gun owner-friendly states the longest, the publication is far from the only outlet to attempt the feat.

Earlier this year, Arizona-based law firm AZ Defenders published its own “best states” rankings using similar political metrics, while the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) published its ranking of “gun friendly” states earlier this month. Zippia, a job research resource, also published its own 2022 rankings, using a combination of gun laws and industry employment data from the NSSF’s most recent ‘Firearm and Ammunition Industry Economic Impact Report’ to create its list.

With so many methods and metrics to choose from, creating a definitive list of the “best states for gun owners” is an impossible task. Still, such rankings are both a fun and interesting way of looking at the impact of new laws, FFL population, and business decisions on consumers and the entire firearms industry.

G&A 2022 Rankings

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