Libertarian Leanings

REPORT: 2025's BEST and WORST U.S. States for Sound Money

Jp Cortez, Money Metals Exchange

(Charlotte, NC – November 20^th, 2024) – The newly released 2025 Sound Money Index has identified Wyoming, South Dakota, and Alaska as the states with the most favorable policies toward constitutional sound money, while Vermont, Maine, and California take the most hostile stances.

Released annually by the Sound Money Defense League and Money Metals Exchange, the Sound Money Index is a comprehensive scorecard evaluating how each U.S. state promotes or impedes sound money policies.

Ranked policies include sales, income, and gross revenue taxes connected with precious metals, state affirmation of gold and silver as money, strengthening protections of gold and silver clause contracts, state precious metals depositories.

Additional criteria include issuing or investing in gold bonds, inclusion of physical gold or silver in state pension or reserve funds, state mechanisms to accept and remit taxes and other payments in gold and silver. and crippling regulatory burdens imposed on precious metals dealers and investors.

The 2025 Index saw several states improve their rankings dramatically after having enacted pro-sound money tax legislation in 2024.

Nebraska’s elimination of capital gains taxes on precious metals propelled it from 22nd to 8th place, while Alabama leapt almost twenty spots from 28th to 9th place. Both of these states had already eliminated their state sales tax on purchases of gold and silver coins, bars, and rounds, so removing income taxes on sales was the next logical step. 

Louisiana jumped from 17^th to 12^th place after Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill reaffirming gold and silver as legal tender in the state.

Wisconsin and New Jersey also saw major improvements from their previous year’s ranking after repealing sales taxes on precious metals. Wisconsin climbed from 44th to 26th place, and New Jersey moved from 49th to 39th.

“Money Metals has spent a full decade promoting state-level sound money reforms, and I’m proud to say these bills tend to be among the most popular proposals considered in recent legislative seasons,” said Stefan Gleason, CEO of Money Metals. “For example, today there are 45 states that have partially or fully exempted sales taxes on precious metals.”

Only five states—Kentucky, Maine, Vermont, New Mexico, and Hawaii—continue to tax precious metals purchases, despite the impact on individuals, businesses, and families seeking a vehicle through which to preserve the purchasing power of their savings.

 However, not all precious metals sales tax exemptions are created equal.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a full exemption on purchases of gold and silver from the state sales tax without any restrictions. The measure did not include an exemption for platinum and palladium.

The New Jersey bill ultimately signed by the governor does not exempt purchases of “investment coin,” defined as, “any numismatic coin manufactured of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, or any other metal, including non-precious metals, and having a fair market value of not less than $1,000. ‘Investment coin’ shall not include jewelry or works of art made of coins, nor shall it include commemorative medallions. 

Inclusion of these two limited exemptions earned New Jersey only 13 points out of a possible 18 in the sales tax categories of the 2025 Sound Money Index, while Wisconsin’s partial exemption earned the state only 14 points. 

Several other states also considered capital gains exemptions on precious metals this year, setting the stage for more sound money reforms in the coming years.

"The Sound Money Index continues to hold states accountable for policies that impact Americans' ability to protect themselves from inflation and financial instability," said Jp Cortez, Executive Director of the Sound Money Defense League.

Cortez continued, “As the Federal Reserve note’s purchasing power continues to fall, Americans need more options to protect their savings. The Sound Money Index tracks the sound money movement, calling attention to states that still shackle gold and silver with regulation and taxes, and highlights the forward-thinking states that enable the metals to function as savings and money.”

Election Reflection

I am immensely relieved at Trump's victory. I was quite worried about it, so much so that I did something I've never done before.  I volunteered to go out door knocking in the final weekends before the election.  At the tender age of seventy-seven, I joined up with Trump Force 47 to walk the Nashua neighborhoods and persuade people to vote Republican.  The Republicans had put together a list of voters who were not yet registered or who had not voted in recent election, but who might be supportive of Trump.  The job of the volunteer was to take a piece of the list, contact the voters on it, and urge them to go vote, not just for Trump, but for the entire Republican slate.

It was interesting.  I got no answer at most of the doors on my list, but I also got no discourtesy from anybody either.  Interest in this election was through the roof.  I didn't find anybody who wasn't planning to vote, and I found only one voter who seemed to lean towards Trump but claimed to be undecided.  I was not able to persuade her.  Mostly the people I found knew how they would vote.

I approached one house with my clipboard and my pile of Trump pamphlets visible, and the lady at the door took one look, and before I could open my mouth she said, "No. No."  So I said, "OK.  Have a nice day."  The few on my list who were opposed to voting for Trump were not unfriendly.  They just made it clear that they were not interested in hearing my pitch.  One elderly man said he would vote the Republican ticket, except for Trump. I spoke with him for a while, but I could see there was no persuading him, so I shook his hand, wished him well, and went on my way.  The easiest conversations were at places with Trump-Vance signs all over.  I rang the doorbells anyway to say hello and remind them to vote Republican all the way down the ballot.  Some said they would, others said they already had.

Then there was a surprising encounter.  I was walking towards a guy and his dog who were walking towards me.  It was in the downtown section.  By this time I was holding my Trump pamphlets under the clipboard where they were less likely to be seen.  I thought that when I got to the next door I'd be able to get a word in before being dismissed.  But as we passed each other he said, "Hey, can I have one of those?"  His accent was recognizably Spanish.  I gave him a pamphlet, some cards, and a bumper sticker.  I introduced myself and asked his name.  We talked a while, then I shook his hand and we parted.  I could kick myself because I had lost my pen, but I thought I would be able to remember his name.  I didn't, and I didn't think to put him into my phone contacts.  He is someone I'd have like to get involved with the Nashua Republicans.  It's a new party.

In New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte won the governor's race in a blowout, but Trump lost.  I had been hopeful, but it turned out my elderly gentleman who planned to vote Republican except for Trump seemed to reflect New Hampshire.  Republicans took the governorship and increased their majorities in both houses of the legislature, while the tops of the ballot went Democrat.  Nationwide, Trump won, attracting more minorities than any Republican in decades. 

Us door knockers were also asked if we would volunteer to be poll watchers.  I chose to hold a sign for a few hours at the Ward 3 polling place instead.  But having more poll watchers on hand would cut down on the chances that there would be cheating.  James O'Keefe, formerly Project Veritas and now O'Keefe Media Group (OMG, how appropriate), posted a warning on X that his group would be undercover and filming at locations in Pennsylvania.  I haven't heard if they actually did that.  In any event, I haven't heard many complaints about election cheating.

Fox called the election for Trump at 1:19am.  I've been impatient to see what the final popular vote total will be.  So far Trump is ahead, and apparently will remain ahead even if all the remaining votes go to Harris.  So far, it looks like there are 10 million fewer voters – excuse me, fewer ballots – than in 2020, give or take, and as we close in a final vote count, it doesn't appear that they're going to turn up.  Which leads me to a big unmentionable reason why Trump won.

There were a lot of good reasons that voters had for turning out for Trump.  The economy, the border, inflation, crime, the forever wars, the boys in girls sports, locker rooms, and bathrooms to name a few.  But Trump voters turned out in record numbers in fear that the 2024 election would be the last legitimate election in America if they lost.  Democrats would continue flooding the country with illegal aliens with the ultimate intent of making them Democrat voters.  They would strive to eliminate any voter ID requirements, they would actively oppose cleanup of the voter rolls, and they would promote universal mail-in voting.  In short Democrats would create an environment where cheating would be easy to do and impossible to detect, thus preserving their option to steal any future elections.

Democracy was on the ballot but not in the way that Kamala Harris said it was.

While legacy media have been ignoring this story, "Make it too big to rig" was our rallying cry, and with the grace of God, we pulled it off.  There is hope for the world yet.

Since Trump's election things have suddenly turned in a less chaotic direction.  Qatar has kicked out the Hamas leaders hiding there.  Hamas has called for an end to its war.  Vladimir Putin has said he's ready to talk about ending the war in Ukraine, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already spoken with Trump about it.  Putin has also said he is not abandoning the U.S. dollar.  A caravan of migrants from Honduras dissolved before reaching the U.S. border.  Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams will stop providing food vouchers to illegal aliens.  Mexico's top diplomat said that Mexico will continue measures to stop the migrant invaders from reaching the U.S. border.  The U.S. stock market hit record highs.  

Still, I'm amazed that he's won out after all they've put him through.  Our weaponized government has been involved in spying on his presidency, investigating him for treason, launching impeachments, prosecuting him for contrived crimes, and even allowing an assassin to get off a shot at him.  Yet here we are.  This time Trump is much better positioned to counter the opposition from within his own party and from within the government itself.

A significant majority of voters are with Trump.  I am optimistic that he will have a successful and consequential presidency, and America will by leaps and bounds be the better for it.

Gun Facts in the U.S. 2024

The Reality of Firearms in America

by Cassandra McBride, Ammo.com

The United States is not only known for having some of the most intriguing politicians but is also a nation of gun owners. With more civilian-owned firearms than any other country in the world, it's clear that guns are deeply ingrained in our culture.

However, gun ownership in America isn’t as simple as many believe. Between growth trends and demographic disparities, there is a lot to learn about guns in the U.S.

We’ve done a deep dive into guns in the U.S. and listed our findings in the following sections.

Report Highlights:

• An estimated 32% (107,000,000) of Americans personally own at least one firearm.

• Men own more guns than women, but women are the fastest-growing demographic of gun owners.

• As of 2017, Americans possessed 46% of the world’s civilian-owned firearms.

• 40% (or 52 million) of American households contain at least one firearm).

• 81% of gun owners and 57% of non-gun owners say a firearm makes them safer.

Methodology

Firearm ownership is not recorded, tracked, or monitored in the United States. Furthermore, state and federal data may differ due to reporting issues. Therefore, we must rely on various sources to understand firearm-related statistics.

All information collected below comes from the most reputable sources available.

Here is how we compiled the data in this article:

• Self-Reporting surveys - Gun ownership and feelings towards guns.
• The CDC Wonder - Firearm-related deaths, homicides, and suicides.
• Peer-Reviewed Studies - Studying correlations between gun ownership, crime, and deaths.
• State-level Data - Every state in the U.S. has different gun laws and tracking methods (the data does not always align with national levels).
• NICS and ATF Reports - The National Instant Background Check system and ATF records are used to understand firearm sales and firearms involved in crimes.

Ammo.com strives to provide accurate and reliable information. You can jump to our sources listed HERE.

How Many Americans Own Guns?

Despite many new first-time gun buyers and the highest-ever gun sales, just under half of the adult American population owns guns. Recent polls show that 30% (or 100,800,000 people) of the American population owns guns as of 2024. ¹

As of 2023, over 65 million households in the United States have at least one firearm, up from 56 million households in 2019. This means that more than half of the homes in the U.S. have firearms. ²

• In 2023, approximately 32% of Americans own a firearm, which equates to roughly 84 million people.
• In 2023, 40% of American households have at least one firearm, totaling about 52.8 million households.
• In 2019, 30% of American households had at least one firearm, equating to approximately 39.6 million households.

Number of People vs. Guns in the U.S.

The recent estimates from the FBI NICS background check system indicate that there were over 500 million privately owned firearms in the United States as of 2023. This figure aligns with data from sources such as the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and other industry reports, which consistently show high numbers of firearm sales and ownership in the U.S. ^{7, 8, 10}

Additionally, the U.S. population is approximately 336 million people as of recent estimates. This figure is based on the latest census and population data available (NSSF).

These statistics underscore the significant presence of firearms in the United States, both in terms of the number of guns and the percentage of the population that owns them. ^{30, 31}

To say that Americans have more guns than any other country is an understatement. There are 1.5 firearms for every U.S. citizen and nearly two for every U.S. adult. ^{30, 31}

• The United States has a population of approximately 336 million people as of 2024 and there are estimated to be over 400 million privately owned firearms in the United States. ^{3, 10, 12}
• This means there are roughly 1.2 firearms for every U.S. citizen.
• There are approximately 1.5 firearms per adult, given that not all citizens are adults.

States with the Most Guns

It’s nearly impossible to estimate the number of firearms in each state. However, based on surveys and NICS records, we can deduce which states have the highest rate of gun ownership. ⁸

Wyoming has more guns per person than any other state, with 581,000 people in 2024 and 245 firearms for every one thousand individuals. West Virginia trails in second place with 92 firearms per 1,000 people. South Dakota, New Mexico, and New Hampshire round up the top three in the firearms per capita category. ³²

Here are the five states with the highest estimated guns per capita:

1. Wyoming - 245 per 1,000 people
2. West Virginia - 92 per 1,000 people
3. South Dakota - 72 per 1,000 people
4. New Mexico - 58 per 1,000 people
5. New Hampshire - 52 per 1,000 people

Note: All data included in this section is collected through self-reporting surveys on a state-by-state basis and do not align with national levels. The per capita rates are likely higher.

What Percentage of All the Guns in the World Are Owned by Americans?

Another common point of interest in the gun debate is how many of the world’s guns Americans own. Due to the fact that firearms are incredibly challenging to trace, we can only estimate how many guns are in the hands of civilians.

According to the 2017 Small Arms Survey, the global estimate of firearms is over one billion. Of these, approximately 857 million (85%) are in civilian hands, 133 million (13%) are in military arsenals, and 23 million (2%) are owned by law enforcement agencies.​

In 2017, the Small Arms Survey estimated that Americans owned 393 million firearms, which is about 120.5 firearms per 100 people. This means that Americans hold roughly 46% of the world's civilian-owned firearms. ³

Man vs. Woman Gun Ownership

While men are more likely to personally own a firearm, women are becoming new gun owners at faster rates.

In 2017, 22% of U.S. females, or approximately 36.9 million women, owned firearms. By 2023, this percentage increased to 25%, meaning around 41 million women in the U.S. personally owned a gun​. This shows a growing trend in female gun ownership over the years. ^{22, 25}

Male firearm ownership has seen a decline. In 2023, 39% of men, or approximately 66 million, reported owning firearms. This is a decrease from previous years when nearly half (46%) of men owned guns indicating a shift in gun ownership demographics over the past few years. ^{22, 23, 25}

In 2023, 29.2% of handgun permit holders in the United States were women, an increase from 28.3% in 2021. This data highlights the growing trend of female participation in firearm ownership and concealed carry. ¹⁴

Men

• 2007 - 46%
• 2011 - 45%
• 2015 - 43%
• 2019 - 43%
• 2022 - 43%

Women

• 2007 - 13%
• 2011 - 19%
• 2015 - 15%
• 2019 - 18%
• 2022 - 22%

How Many Illegal Gun Owners are in America

Unfortunately, criminals and prohibited individuals don’t reveal their ownership rate. Prohibited persons aren’t likely to obtain firearms via legal means. ⁵ Therefore, we can’t examine NICS reports for data either. However, we do know how many citizens are prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms.

More than 28 million people in the U.S. are classified as prohibited persons out of the total population of 336 million. Nearly half of these individuals are prohibited due to their citizenship status rather than a criminal or mental health background. Over seven million people are prohibited due to mental health reasons, while felony convictions are the least common reason for being classified as a prohibited person. ⁶

• As of January 2023, there are 28,407,758 individuals prohibited from possessing firearms in the United States.
• The largest subset of prohibited persons is due to citizenship status, comprising 12,529,823 individuals.
• The second largest subset is those prohibited due to mental adjudication, totaling 7,150,138 individuals.
• The third largest subset includes those with felony convictions, totaling 5,157,203 individuals.
• From 2020 to 2021, the number of prohibited persons increased by 8.79%, from 23,377,233 to 25,430,959.
• Only 1.26% of all NICS background checks result in denial​.
• The average time-to-crime of firearms, from the date of purchase via an FFL, is 6.99 years. ^{7, 8}

How Many Illegal Guns Are in the U.S.?

When we get down to brass tacks, there are no illegal firearms in the U.S. For example, a Thompson machine gun is largely considered illegal, but some people can legally own them. Therefore, the following statistics reflect firearms that are no longer in possession of a responsible gun owner.

Others may consider unserialized firearms illegal. However, they are still legal, and it wasn’t until 1968 that manufacturers were required to add serial numbers. Therefore, it is possible that there are millions of untraceable firearms in the United States.

While we don’t know the exact number of illegal guns in the U.S., we do know that there are millions of firearms in the hands of criminals or will be in the coming years. As of 2021, the ATF traced more than 400,000 firearms used during the commission of a crime. Nearly all of those firearms were obtained illegally. ⁹

When a law enforcement agency acquires a firearm (presumably during the commission of a crime), it sends a trace request to the ATF. Between 2017 and 2021, nearly two million trace requests were sent to the ATF ¹¹.

• As of 2021, the ATF traced 404,334 firearms seized in the commission of a crime.
• 93% of guns used in crimes were obtained illegally.
• 1,922,577 firearms were submitted to the ATF between 2017 and 2021 for trace requests (presumably recovered in crimes).
• Recent reports show that an average of 160,000 firearms are reported stolen annually.

Overall, gun control nationwide is losing support. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of Americans who support background checks declined from 90% to 84%, and overall support declined to 56%. ^{21, 22}

High-capacity magazines are a controversial term because standards vary depending on the firearm. However, registered Democrats are the most likely group to support magazine bans. Independent voters are the second most likely, and only 32% of Republicans strongly support bans.

Semi-automatic rifles, often referred to as assault rifles, have been a hotly debated topic for decades. Similar to other gun control measures, support for weapons bans has decreased from 61% in 2019 to 55% in 2022. ²²

It’s no secret that Americans worry about the adverse effects of having so many firearms. Half of Americans are worried about mass shootings, and more than three-quarters of Americans feel that gun violence is rising.

In 2023, there were mixed results among parents, where 61% stated their children were concerned about gun violence versus another survey stating that only 32% of children were concerned. Democrats and Independents are more likely to be concerned about gun violence than Republicans. ²⁰

Those who own no firearms often wonder why anyone would ever keep guns in their homes and on their persons. Fortunately, we have surveys to help answer those questions.

Nearly three-fourths of those who own guns do so for protection. More than a quarter of gun owners cite hunting as a reason and/or sport shooting. Few people state that they own firearms as collectibles, and only 7% of gun owners say they own guns due to their jobs.

Americans, Guns, and Facts

It’s true that Americans own more guns than any other country’s population. Firearms are deeply ingrained in American culture, from hunting to personal defense and sport shooting.

With nearly two firearms for every adult, Americans’ attitudes toward firearms vary greatly. Although many support stricter gun control restrictions, fewer support them today than twenty years ago.

Sources

1. Gallup: Guns
2. Rand Study on Gun Ownership by State
3. Small Arms Survey 2017
4. US Population Data 2023
5. Gun Crime Study 1983
6. ATF Prohibited Persons
7. FBI NICS Indices
8. FBI NICS Operation Report 2020-2021
9. ATF Trace Data
10. Gun Purchases Per Month
11. Traced Gun Crimes ATF
12. Firearms Manufactured & Imported 2010
13. Guns and Crime Data
14. Handgun Permit Data
15. FBI Stolen Guns
16. 2008 Poll 2A
17. SCOTUS Poll
18. Poll CNN May 2023
19. Fox News Gun Poll
20. Polls 2019-2023
21. Gallup Poll 1990-2023
22. 2022 University of Chicago Poll
23. CBS Poll 2023
24. Key Facts About Americans and Guns
25. FBI Violent Crime Rates
26. DGU Studies
27. CDC Suicides 1979-1999
28. CDC Suicides 2018-2022
29. Economic Impact of Firearms
30. The Power of the Second Amendment: U.S. Citizens Now Own Over 500 Million Guns
31. U.S. Census Population Clock
32. Gun Ownership by State
33. Support or Oppose Banning High-Capacity Magazines