Weak Gun Laws Kill People

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) produces data on Firearm Mortality by State. This includes a map showing the rate of firearm mortality in every state. The ten states with the highest rate of firearm mortality (number of deaths per 100,000 people) are:

1. Alaska - 24.5
2. Alabama - 22.9
3. Montana - 22.5
4. Louisiana - 21.7
5. Missouri - 21.5
6. Mississippi - 21.5
7. Arkansas - 20.3
8. Wyoming - 18.8
9. West Virginia - 18.6
10. New Mexico - 18.5

The states with the lowest rate of firearm mortality are:

1. Hawaii - 2.5
2. Massachusetts - 3.7
3. New York - 3.7
4. Rhode Island - 3.9
5. Connecticut - 5.1
6. New Jersey - 5.3
7. California - 7.9
8. Minnesota - 8.2
9. Nebraska - 8.3
10. Iowa - 9

If you seriously wish to reduce the number of gun deaths in the United States you might want to ask why the top ten states have a significantly higher rate of firearm mortality than the states with the lowest rate of firearm mortality.

One clear reason is gun legislation.

Every year the Giffords Law Center ranks all the states based on the strength of their gun legislation. The Gun Law Scorecard gives a grade to each state based on factors such as background checks and permitless carry laws. Here are the Gun Law grades for the ten states with the highest firearm mortality rates.

1. Alaska - F
2. Alabama - F
3. Montana - F
4. Louisiana - F
5. Missouri - F 
6. Mississippi - F
7. Arkansas - F
8. Wyoming - F
9. West Virginia - F
10. New Mexico - F

So the ten states with the highest firearm mortality rates in the country all have the worst Gun Law grades. In other words the states with the worst firearm mortality rates are the states with the weakest gun legislation.

Here are the Gun Law grades for the ten states with the lowest rates of firearm mortality. 

1. Hawaii - A-
2. Massachusetts - A-
3. New York - A-
4. Rhode Island - B+
5. Connecticut - A-
6. New Jersey - A
7. California - A
8. Minnesota - C+
9. Nebraska - C-
10. Iowa - C

Six out of the 7 states with the lowest firearm mortality rating in the country have the highest Gun Law grades. In other words the states with the lowest firearm mortality rates in the United States clearly have some of the strongest gun legislation. 

It seems blindingly obvious to most people in the world that stronger gun legislation will lead to a lower number of deaths from guns. Or you could ban video games instead.