2024 BRFSS Survey Results: North Carolina

Firearm Safety

Gun Ownership*

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  Total
Respond.^		 No Gun(s) in home Gun(s) not loaded Gun(s) loaded but locked Gun(s) Loaded and unlocked
N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%)
TOTAL 3,105 1,958 60.2 58.1-62.3 670 22.6 20.8-24.4 248 9.5 8.2-10.9 229 7.7 6.7- 8.9
GENDER
Male 1,359 751 52.3 49.2-55.4 331 25.9 23.2-28.8 133 11.5 9.6-13.8 144 10.2 8.5-12.2
Female 1,746 1,207 67.1 64.3-69.8 339 19.6 17.5-22.0 115 7.7 6.2- 9.6 85 5.5 4.3- 7.0
RACE/ETHNICITY
Non-Hispanic White 1,951 1,064 51.5 48.9-54.2 519 27.8 25.5-30.3 182 11.3 9.6-13.3 186 9.4 8.0-11.0
Non-Hispanic Black 555 389 66.7 61.8-71.2 93 18.1 14.5-22.4 43 8.5 6.1-11.7 30 6.7 4.6- 9.7
Non-Hispanic Other 144 97 66.6 56.7-75.2 24 17.2 10.9-26.0 13 8.3 4.3-15.4 *** *** ***
Hispanic 437 393 89.9 86.2-92.6 32 6.7 4.5- 9.6 *** *** *** *** *** ***
AGE
18-34 559 400 67.7 62.9-72.1 97 20.1 16.4-24.5 40 8.5 6.1-11.6 22 3.7 2.4- 5.9
35-44 485 332 65.1 60.0-69.8 102 20.3 16.7-24.5 27 7.4 4.8-11.2 24 7.2 4.7-10.9
45-54 519 314 56.2 51.2-61.1 125 25.1 21.1-29.7 50 11.0 8.2-14.8 30 7.6 5.2-10.9
55-64 540 296 50.7 45.6-55.8 137 27.0 22.6-31.9 53 11.2 8.3-15.0 54 11.1 8.3-14.7
65-74 523 298 55.5 50.4-60.5 121 23.3 19.3-27.8 48 11.2 8.1-15.4 56 9.9 7.3-13.3
75+ 435 280 60.4 53.8-66.7 84 21.3 16.4-27.1 30 9.0 5.4-14.7 41 9.3 6.3-13.6
EDUCATION
Less Than H.S. 323 271 77.4 70.7-82.9 30 12.3 8.1-18.2 *** *** *** 14 5.6 3.0-10.0
H.S. or G.E.D. 647 418 59.4 54.8-64.0 115 20.1 16.6-24.1 75 14.3 11.1-18.2 39 6.2 4.3- 8.7
Some Post-H.S. 841 499 56.6 52.7-60.5 195 25.1 21.7-28.7 66 8.2 6.3-10.6 81 10.1 8.0-12.7
College Graduate 1,285 765 58.1 54.9-61.2 328 25.9 23.3-28.8 99 8.8 7.1-10.9 93 7.1 5.7- 8.9
FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY
Yes 1,000 621 58.3 54.4-62.1 213 23.9 20.6-27.4 78 8.8 6.7-11.5 88 9.1 7.1-11.5
No 2,070 1,315 61.1 58.6-63.6 451 22.2 20.2-24.4 165 9.6 8.1-11.3 139 7.1 5.9- 8.5
VETERAN STATUS
Veteran 324 139 40.6 34.4-47.0 90 30.7 25.0-37.0 46 15.8 11.5-21.2 49 13.0 9.5-17.5
Non-Veteran 2,778 1,816 62.5 60.3-64.7 580 21.6 19.8-23.5 202 8.8 7.5-10.2 180 7.1 6.0- 8.3
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Employed or Self-Employed 1,660 1,031 58.8 56.0-61.6 382 23.9 21.6-26.5 136 9.8 8.2-11.8 111 7.4 6.0- 9.1
Unemployed 129 92 68.9 58.4-77.7 17 13.6 8.3-21.5 *** *** *** *** *** ***
Retired 894 539 56.9 52.7-61.0 192 22.7 19.4-26.3 77 11.1 8.4-14.4 86 9.4 7.3-11.9
Unable to Work 197 128 62.0 53.4-70.0 37 19.5 13.4-27.4 17 7.5 4.2-13.2 15 11.0 6.3-18.3
Other not in Labor Force 197 148 72.7 64.7-79.4 37 20.5 14.6-28.0 *** *** *** *** *** ***
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $15,000 103 78 74.0 63.0-82.7 14 14.8 8.5-24.5 *** *** *** *** *** ***
$15,000- 24,999 205 151 69.2 60.7-76.6 26 13.7 8.6-21.2 17 9.4 5.6-15.3 11 7.7 4.0-14.2
$25,000- 34,999 247 175 71.2 63.5-77.9 45 19.1 13.6-26.1 17 5.9 3.1-11.0 *** *** ***
$35,000- 49,999 397 264 62.8 56.7-68.5 71 19.5 15.2-24.7 34 11.0 7.4-16.2 28 6.7 4.2-10.4
$50,000-74,999 364 222 57.4 51.2-63.5 81 24.3 19.1-30.4 35 10.9 7.5-15.6 26 7.3 4.7-11.1
$75,000-100,000 332 181 50.9 44.6-57.2 91 28.2 22.9-34.2 29 10.6 7.0-15.7 31 10.3 7.1-14.7
$100,000-150,000 343 169 46.7 40.7-52.8 104 31.3 25.8-37.3 34 11.6 8.1-16.4 36 10.4 7.3-14.6
$150,000+ 374 176 47.9 42.3-53.6 122 29.9 25.1-35.2 45 13.1 9.6-17.5 31 9.1 6.2-13.3
Don't know/Not sure or Refused 740 542 69.7 65.3-73.8 116 17.1 14.0-20.8 36 7.0 4.7-10.2 46 6.1 4.3- 8.7
POVERTY LEVEL1
Less than 50% 66 55 85.4 74.3-92.2 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
50% to 100% 203 163 76.5 68.5-83.0 19 12.7 7.6-20.3 *** *** *** 15 7.5 4.3-12.7
101% to 150% 320 215 63.3 56.3-69.8 61 20.7 15.5-27.1 30 11.4 7.5-17.1 14 4.6 2.5- 8.3
151% to 200% 156 94 61.7 52.0-70.5 35 21.3 14.8-29.7 18 10.5 5.8-18.3 *** *** ***
More than 200% 1,602 874 51.7 48.8-54.6 428 27.4 24.9-30.1 157 11.3 9.6-13.4 143 9.5 8.0-11.4
Don't know/Not sure or Refused 740 542 69.7 65.3-73.8 116 17.1 14.0-20.8 36 7.0 4.7-10.2 46 6.1 4.3- 8.7
HOUSING
Own 2,019 1,083 53.0 50.4-55.5 540 26.1 23.9-28.4 202 11.4 9.8-13.2 194 9.5 8.2-11.1
Rent 862 708 81.0 77.7-84.0 94 12.0 9.6-14.9 38 4.7 3.2- 6.7 22 2.3 1.5- 3.7
Other arrangement 200 145 71.1 62.7-78.2 36 20.0 13.8-28.0 *** *** *** 12 5.3 2.6-10.3
RURAL-URBAN RESIDENT2
Urban 1,033 778 73.8 70.6-76.8 175 17.5 14.9-20.3 45 5.2 3.8- 7.1 35 3.5 2.4- 5.0
Regional City or Suburban County 888 546 58.2 54.3-62.1 185 22.3 19.2-25.8 82 11.0 8.7-13.8 75 8.4 6.6-10.8
Rural 1,184 634 49.4 45.8-52.9 310 27.4 24.4-30.8 121 12.2 9.9-15.0 119 11.0 8.9-13.4
NC DEPT OF COMMERCE COUNTY TIER3
Most Distressed Counties (Tier 1) 642 371 55.0 50.4-59.6 143 24.6 20.8-28.9 65 10.4 7.8-13.8 63 9.9 7.5-12.9
Less Distressed Counties (Tier 2) 1,026 567 52.4 48.6-56.1 266 25.8 22.7-29.2 98 12.3 9.8-15.2 95 9.5 7.6-11.9
Least Distressed Counties (Tier 3) 1,437 1,020 68.6 65.6-71.4 261 19.1 16.8-21.7 85 7.0 5.5- 8.8 71 5.3 4.0- 6.9
CDC SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX4
1st Quartile - Least Vulnerable 1,077 702 62.8 59.2-66.3 239 22.3 19.4-25.5 74 8.3 6.4-10.7 62 6.6 4.9- 8.8
2nd Quartile 974 612 60.4 56.7-64.1 205 22.2 19.2-25.5 81 9.8 7.6-12.5 76 7.6 5.9- 9.7
3rd Quartile 763 456 57.3 53.1-61.5 172 23.1 19.8-26.8 65 10.1 7.6-13.1 70 9.5 7.3-12.2
4th Quartile - Most Vulnerable 291 188 58.7 51.6-65.5 54 23.2 17.6-29.9 28 11.0 7.1-16.6 21 7.1 4.4-11.2

Back to Firearm Safety.

Data in this table were derived from the Firearm Safety questions.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to changes in the weighting methodology and other factors, results from 2024 are NOT comparable to 2010
and earlier years.

***The estimate was suppressed because it did not meet statistical reliability standards. See BRFSS 2024 Annual Results Technical Notes for more details.

1Based on 2024 U.S Census Bureau poverty threshold incomes. Please see the BRFSS 2024 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

2Based on U.S Census Bureau population estimates at the county level. Please see the BRFSS 2024 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

3NC Dept. of Commerce County Tier Classification, based on respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2024 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

4Quartile of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index
(https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html) for respondent’s county of residence.
Please see the BRFSS 2024 Annual Results Technical Notes for details.

^Use caution in interpreting cell sizes less than 50, % = Percentage, C.I.(95%) = Confidence Interval (at 95 percent probability level).
Percentages are weighted to population characteristics and therefore cannot be calculated exactly from the numbers in this table.

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This page was generated on 18SEP25.

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