You Won’t Believe Which County in Washington Has the Most Weapons

Unveiling the Arsenal: Washington State’s Surprising Weaponry Hotspot

It may come as no surprise that some of the most armed counties in the nation are in Alaska and Wyoming but surprisingly, Washington State has a few heavily armed counties that might make Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone look like child’s play.

The Unlikely Washington County Leading in Weapon Ownership

I grew up in Asotin County down on the Grande Ronde River and seeing a rifle on a rack in a truck seemed ordinary to me. I was never intimidated as living on a ranch, it was pretty commonplace.

If you live in the city, it might not be so common to see guns hanging in racks but you’ll be surprised by which county in Washington State is the most-armed county — most armed meaning the highest percentage of homes that keep firearms according to City-Data.com 

You might think Garfield County with Pomeroy would be a likely choice but you’d be wrong. The #2 county with the most firearms is Chelan County which includes Wenatchee and Lake Chelan.

Ranked 35th in the nation and the first Washington State county that is heavily armed is Benton County. It might surprise you but Benton County is the most heavily-armed county in Washington State.

I did see my home area ranked #3 in the nation, that would be Nez Perce County near Lewiston Idaho. Nez Perce County borders Asotin County and growing up there, it seemed like everyone had a gun.

You can see that Benton County along with Chelan County are the heaviest-armed counties in Washington. You can take a look at the complete list of the 100 most-armed counties here.