With President Barack Obama’s executive orders on gun control and recent changes to state gun legislation, the personal finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s States Most Dependent on the Gun Industry
To determine which states depend most on the arms and ammunition industry both directly for jobs and political contributions and indirectly through firearm ownership, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across eight key metrics.
States Most Dependent on the Gun Industry and States Least Dependent on the Gun Industry
| Most Dependent | Least Dependent | ||
| 1 | Idaho | 42 | Washington |
| 2 | Alaska | 43 | Hawaii |
| 3 | Montana | 44 | Maine |
| 4 | South Dakota | 45 | Michigan |
| 5 | Arkansas | 46 | California |
| 6 | Wyoming | 47 | Maryland |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 48 | New York |
| 8 | Minnesota | 49 | New Jersey |
| 9 | Kentucky | 50 | Rhode Island |
| 10 | Alabama | 51 | Delaware |
• The average wages & benefits in the firearms industry is highest in the District of Columbia, which is three times greater than in New Mexico, where it is lowest. Comparing the Most & Least Dependent
• The number of firearms-industry jobs per capita is highest in New Hampshire, which is seven times greater than in the District of Columbia, where it is lowest.
• The total firearms industry output per capita is highest in New Hampshire, which is 18 times greater than in Hawaii, where it is lowest.
• The total taxes paid by the firearms industry per capita is highest in Montana, which is six times greater than in Delaware, where it is lowest.
• Gun ownership is highest in Alaska, which is 12 times greater than in Delaware, where it is lowest.
For the full report and to see where your state ranks, please visit:
http://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-dependent-on-the-gun-industry/18719/
In order to identify the states that are most and least dependent on the gun industry, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) Firearms Industry, 2) Gun Prevalence and 3) Gun Politics.
First, we compiled eight relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was given a value between 0 and 100, wherein 100 is the value that represents the heaviest dependence and 0 is the lowest.
We then calculated the overall score for each state and finally ranked them using the weighted average across all metrics.
Firearms Industry – Total Points: 35
- Number of Firearms-Industry Jobs per 10,000 Residents: Double Weight (~14 Points)
- Average Wages & Benefits in the Firearms Industry: Full Weight (~7 Points)
- Total Firearms Industry Output per Capita: Full Weight (~7 Points)
- Total Taxes Paid by the Firearms Industry per Capita: Full Weight (~7 Points)
Gun Prevalence – Total Points: 35
- Gun Ownership: Full Weight (~17.5 Points)
- Gun Sales per 1,000 Residents (approximated by using National Instant Criminal Background Check System data): Full Weight (~17.5 Points)
Gun Politics – Total Points: 30
- Gun-Control Contributions to Congressional Members per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~15 Points)
- Gun-Rights Contributions to Congressional Members per 100,000 Residents: Full Weight (~15 Points)