Americans own more than 30 million modern sporting rifles, which are guns that Democrats refer to as “assault weapons.”
The total number of modern sporting rifles is a combination of those owned by private citizens and those owned by members of American law enforcement.
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), “Data indicates that 30,711,000 Modern Sporting Rifles are in circulation since 1990.”
Mark Oliva, NSSF managing director of public affairs, told Breitbart News:
Modern Sporting Rifles include AR-15s, AK-47s and their variants. These are commonly owned and commonly used by Americans for all lawful purposes, including hunting and recreational target shooting. There are more of these rifles in circulation in the United States than there are Ford F-150 pick trucks, the most-popular selling truck in America.
Earlier Thursday, Breitbart News pointed to NSSF figures showing the total number of guns in circulation in America topped 490 million in 2022.
There were more than 15 million National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks conducted for gun sales in 2024. And December 2024 was the 65th consecutive month in which more than one million background checks were conducted for gun sales.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com
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