There are almost as places selling guns as Starbucks in Las Vegas
Across the United States, there were 64,747 places were you could legally buy a gun as of Dec. 2015, according to Safer America. That may be hard to visualize, but a new online tool aims to put that into perspective.
To help people get a sense of what almost 65,000 businesses legally allowed to sell guns across the United States looks like, Safer America mapped gun shops in comparison to something most can relate to — Starbucks Coffee. Their data showed that there are nearly six gun "dealers" — meaning businesses that sell guns (some among other things) — for every Starbucks in America (10,843).
With more than 80 percent of Americans living within 20 miles of a Starbucks, even if you aren't a fan of the coffee giant, there is a good chance you can still pick out the nearest location to your home.
Using data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the organization used the idea of a Starbucks location on multiple street corners to illustrate how firearms may be more accessible in some areas than coffee.
How many gun dealers versus Starbucks locations are located within 30 miles of major cities?
Nevada
- Las Vegas: 158 gun dealers versus 159 Starbucks
- Reno: 138 gun dealers versus 39 Starbucks
United States
- Detroit, Mich.: — Ranked as the 2015 most dangerous city in America by Law Street — 309 gun dealers versus 83 Starbucks
- Houston, Texas: 686 gun dealers versus 200 Starbucks
- Irvine Calif.: — Ranked as the 2015 safest city in America by Law Street — 220 gun dealers versus 332 Starbucks
- Los Angeles: 250 gun dealers versus 530 Starbucks
- New York City: 159 gun dealers versus 404 Starbucks
- Salt Lake City: 276 gun dealers versus 43 Starbucks
- Seattle (Starbucks headquarters): 199 gun dealers versus 392 Starbucks
Click here to see the Firearms and Frappuccinos map.
Contact Caitlin Lilly at clilly@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @caitiesmith
