U.S. adults who formerly owned firearms: 5-year incidence of and reasons for divestment among a national sample

Background National surveys routinely provide estimates of personal and household firearm ownership, allowing changes in firearm prevalence to be assessed over time. By contrast, the determinants of changes in prevalence (new acquisitions and divestments) are rarely assessed. This study estimates the proportion of United States adults who divested of their firearms, describes divestor characteristics, and assesses why former gun owners chose to divest. Findings Using data from the 2024 National Firearms Survey ( n = 12,909), we estimate that 1.7% of United States adults (95% Confidence Intervals: 1.5, 2.0), voluntarily divested of their firearms in the 5-years prior to the survey. Of these 5.8 million divestors, an estimated 18.1% (95% Confidence Intervals: 12.5, 25.5) divested because of safety concerns. Overall, 23.6% (95% Confidence Intervals: 17.2, 31.6) of divestors currently live in a household with a gun owner. Conclusion Nearly 6 million adults in the United States divested of their firearms in the 5-years prior to our survey; only one in five did so out of safety concerns. Future work should seek to understand more about the circumstances surrounding divestment from both those who viewed their firearms as posing a safety risk and from those who divested for other reasons.