espite its low population, Wyoming has the highest rate of gun ownership in the United States. Estimates suggest anywhere from 57.9 to 62.8 percent of households in Wyoming possess at least one gun, putting the Cowboy State ahead of states like Alaska, Montana and Idaho.
Yet despite being awash in guns, Wyoming’s gun homicide rate is extremely low.
According to FBI crime statistics, in 2010 there were only eight murders in the state, five of which were committed with guns. That works out to fewer than one gun murder per 100,000 people.
By comparison, in California, a state where only about 21 percent of households own guns, 1,257 people were murdered with firearms in 2010, a rate of 3.4 gun homicides per 100,000 people.