Take a Gander at America's Most Heavily Armed Counties. The Ones That Aren't on the Map Might Surprise You

Maybe Texans don't like guns as much as stereotypes have led us to believe.

A map, posted Saturday by Reddit user Ramesses_Deux, purports to show the 30 U.S. counties with the highest rates of gun-owning residents.

The state with the most gun-having counties appears to be a state that doesn't have counties at all: Louisiana.

Image via imgur

Six Louisiana parishes rank in the top 30, with Idaho, Utah and Vermont also boasting healthy figures.

The list, per Ramesses_Deux:

1. Fairbanks borough, AK - 59.1%

2. Tooele County, UT - 59.1%

3. Nez Perce County, ID - 59.0%

4. Armstrong County, PA - 57.6%

5. Rapides Parish, LA - 52.8%

6. Teller County, CO - 52.3%

7. Darlington County, SC - 52.1%

8. Franklin County, VT - 51.7%

9. Randolph County, NC - 51.1%

10. Canyon County, ID - 50.9%

11. Anchorage Municipality, AK - 50.0%

12. Laramie County, WY - 49.6%

13. Davis County, UT - 48.8%

14. Yellowstone County, MT - 48.7%

15. Franklin County, PA - 48.5%

16. Pennington County, SD - 48.5%

17. Terrebonne Parish, LA - 47.9%

18. Ouachita Parish, LA - 47.6%

19. Florence County, SC - 47.6%

20. Orange County, VT - 47.0%

21. Calcasieu Parish, LA - 46.4%

22. Weber County, UT - 46.3%

23. Kanawha County, WV - 45.2%

24. Ada County, ID - 45.0%

25. Pulaski County, AR - 44.7%

26. Minnehaha County, SD - 44.7%

27. Westmoreland County, PA - 44.0%

28. Pinal County, AZ - 43.6%

29. St. Tammany Parish, LA - 42.5%

30. Caddo Parish, LA - 42.2%

As the original poster noted, the map is based on a City Data list of the top 101 U.S. counties by firearm ownership, but City Data does not give the source for the list's information.

Reddit users were quick to note the unexpected results on the map.

"Not a single one is in Texas, that's a surprise," one user wrote.

The first Texas county on City Data's list is Harris County at No. 73, where apparently just over 30 percent of residents have a home firearm.

Another Reddit user offered a theory for why Louisiana was so well-represented.

"Louisiana has a 2nd Amendment sales tax holiday, a weekend in which firearms, ammunition and, I believe, hunting supplies are tax free," the user wrote. "As a former resident of Louisiana and gun owner I'm not surprised by the numbers, though I figured northern Louisiana would be better armed than the southern half of the state."

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Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter

[instory-firewire]