The shooting in Newtown, Conn., that killed six adults and 20 children on Friday has once again refocused the nation’s attention on guns and gun control. Below are numbers to give some sense of the size and scope of the gun industry in America, the federal government’s involvement in regulating that industry, and the political and economic factors that are likely to drive the debate in the weeks and months ahead. The Gun Economy 47% Percentage of Americans who say they have a gun in their home or elsewhere on their property, according to Gallup, the highest reported number in two decades $6 billion Estimated revenue generated by the gun and ammunition industry in the U.S., according to an analysis by business research firm Hoovers 310 million Estimated number of firearms in the U.S., according to the federal government, which includes 114 million handguns, 110 million rifles, and 86 million shotguns 209,750 Number of jobs related to the firearm industry in 2012, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which estimates that $9.8 billion in annual wages are earned annually 30% Percentage increase in employment in the industry between 2008 and 2011, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation 131,806 Number of federally licensed firearms and ammunition dealers in the U.S., about four times as many the number of grocery stores, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 5,459,240 Number of new firearms manufactured in the U.S. in 2011, 95% of which are sold domestically, according to the ATF 3,252,404 Number of firearms imported into the U.S. (529,056 shotguns, 998,072 rifles, and 1,725,276 handguns) in 2010, according to the ATF 846,619 Number of firearms imported into the U.S. in 2011 from Brazil, the leading gun importer to the U.S., according to the ATF $29,818,880 Market value lost by gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson after its stock price decreased by 5.2% on Monday, December 17, amid what the Los Angeles Times called “a surge in discussion about gun control” after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. $1,197 to $1,391 Suggested retail … Continue reading America’s Gun Economy, By the Numbers