Gun laws in the United States are a sensitive issue.  Especially now, after fatal mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. As a European I don’t really understand American need to have a fatal weapon at home. Do you really want to shoot people or it’s just about the right to have a gun? But we are not here to discuss cultural differences… we are here to discuss about MAPS:).

The Journal News, a New York newspaper has published a Google map that shows the names and addresses of pistol or revolver permits in Westchester and Rockland counties. The information was gathered through requests filed under Freedom of Information laws.. The map omits owners of rifles and shotguns, which can be purchased in New York without a permit. A third county, Putnam County, is still in the process of handing the information over to the paper for publication.

It’s definitely a controversial idea but it might help to capture the scale…

47 – Percentage of Americans who claim to have at least one gun at home.
5,400 – Licensed firearms manufacturers in the United States in 2011.
310 million – Total number of nonmilitary firearms in the United States.
$75 or less – Retail price of a low-caliber handgun.

source: The Verge