Most Gun-Friendly States in 2024

How does your state rank in terms of encouraging legal gun ownership? Our results are surprising! We took into account the current gun laws, current legislators’ past voting history, 2A-centric taxes, and more to bring you this comprehensive list for 2024.

Jump to a state: 

AL | AK | AZ | AR | CA | CO | CT | DE | FL | GA | HI | ID | IL | IN | IA | KS | KY | LA | ME | MD | MA | MI | MN | MS | MO | MT | NE | NV | NH | NJ | NM | NY | NC | ND | OH | OK | OR | PA | RI | SC | SD | TN | TX | UT | VT | VA | WA | WV | WI | WY

Report Highlights:

  • New Hampshire is #1 thanks to its incredibly relaxed gun laws, low crime rates, and lack of state sales tax.
  • West Virginia is #2 due to recent legislative actions to remove firearm restrictions and reduce sales tax on firearms and ammunition.
  • Arkansas, Montana, and Mississippi are #3#4, and #5, thanks to their pro-2A governors, stand-your-ground laws, and relaxed carry and conceal requirements.
  • Arizona, Kansas, and Utah all dropped in the rankings to #25#24, and #23 due to their current governor’s Second Amendment stance.
  • Some states ranked better than others due to the current governors’ past and present 2nd Amendment voting history.

Our ranking factors and how we weighed each of those factors are detailed here: “Ranking Factors: What Did We Measure?“. Our sources are listed here. If you’d like to see a larger version of our “Friendliest States for Gun Owners Map”, it’s here. Without further ado, please scroll down to see how we ranked America’s best states for gun owners in 2024.

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