Due to a patchwork of state and federal laws, it has always been difficult to put a precise number on U.S. gun sales. A new analysis entitled "Gun Country" from website security.org used information contained in the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System and an industry-accepted formula to estimate the number of gun sales in a given year.

The research found that 972,860 guns were sold in Texas in 2018, making it the state with the highest total. When it comes to sales per 1,000 inhabitants, however, things look different with Texas only coming 34th with 46.5 guns sold. Montana comes first with 141.9 firearms sold per 1,000 of its inhabitants, followed by Alaska (140.1) and South Dakota (129.9).