The best and worst states in the US for the gun industry

• Each US state differs in its attitudes toward guns.
• Careers site Zippia ranked each state according to how good it is for the firearm industry.
• Southern states ranked much higher than Northeastern states, with Alabama taking the top spot and Rhode Island coming in 50th.

The United States is generally considered the most gun-friendly country in the world - by a wide margin. Americans own nearly half of all the civilian-owned guns in the world, and there are even more guns than people.

But within the US, each state differs in its approach to the gun industry.

Careers site Zippia ranked each US state according to how good it is for the gun industry. The site found that based on a few key metrics, including the number of gun-industry jobs available and legal regulations on the industry, not every state is as welcoming to firearms as America's reputation would suggest.

Zippia looked at four metrics for its ranking:

• The number of jobs available in the gun industry in each state, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
• Statewide regulations on the gun industry, including legal regulations on the industry and the percentage of federal excise tax each state gets from firearm sales
• Gun culture in each state, including statistics on gun ownership per capita and the percentage of homes with guns
• General labor statistics, including average employee salary and whether states are right-to-work

Many of the friendliest states to the gun industry, in terms of regulations and employment environment, are in the South, Zippia found, with Alabama topping the list and Arkansas and Georgia rounding out the top three. Florida and Louisiana also made appearances in the top 10.

Meanwhile, many of the worst states for the gun industry were in the Northeast, including the number 50 entrant, Rhode Island, and New Jersey and Vermont, which finished 49th and 48th, respectively. New York, Maine, and Massachusetts also landed in the bottom 10.

Here are the full rankings, from most to least friendly to the industry:

1. Alabama
2. Arkansas
3. Georgia
4. Idaho
5. Arizona
6. Florida
7. Indiana
8. Alaska
9. Missouri
10. Louisiana
11. Colorado
12. Kansas
13. Kentucky
14. California
15. Montana
16. Texas
17. Nevada
18. New Mexico
19. Oklahoma
20. Mississippi
21. Virginia
22. Minnesota
23. New Hampshire
24. Michigan
25. North Carolina
26. Utah
27. Ohio
28. Pennsylvania
29. Connecticut
30. Illinois
31. South Carolina
32. Tennessee
33. Maryland
34. Wyoming
35. Hawaii
36. Iowa
37. West Virginia
38. Oregon
39. South Dakota
40. Delaware
41. Massachusetts
42. Nebraska
43. Maine
44. North Dakota
45. Wisconsin
46. New York
47. Washington
48. Vermont
49. New Jersey
50. Rhode Island

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