Strong laws = fewer gun murders Michael Smolens: States with stronger gun laws have lower rates of shooting homicides, study says
Amid an increase in gun violence across the nation, officials are struggling to understand why it's happening and what to do about it.
The city of
The effectiveness and legality of regulating guns have been argued over since before the famous gunfight in
The research by Everytown for Gun Safety shows a correlation between states with stronger gun laws and those with lower rates of deaths by shootings.
Conversely,
Homicide, suicide and death from accidental shootings were included in the study using 2020 data from the
Researchers focused on 50 laws, ranging from those that block gun purchases by people who pose a threat to themselves or others to rules on concealed weapons. Also considered were efforts to increase police accountability, protect civil rights and target "bad actors in the gun industry."
The study emphasized a handful of priority areas: passing background checks, blocking at-risk individuals from obtaining guns and requiring locked gun storage; also rejecting "stand your ground" laws and allowing guns to be carried without permits.
"While each of the top 14 states in the gun law rankings has all five of these policies in place, none of the bottom 14 states maintains any of these critical protections," the study said.
The leading states on gun laws averaged 7.4 gun deaths per 100,000 residents while those at the bottom averaged 20 per 100,000. The national average is 13.6
With some exceptions, that blue state-red state contrast is consistent throughout the study.
Overall, the correlation bears out as the average of states shows. But some individual states counter the trend. For instance,
That's higher than
The study suggests that some strong-law states are, to a degree, victimized by neighboring states.
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The number of guns also can skew the laws-to-shootings correlation, according to the study.
"A state like
Is this study conclusive? The Everytown folks think so.
"When we compare the states head-to-head on the top 50 gun safety policies, a clear pattern emerges," the study says. "States with strong laws see less gun violence."
No doubt critics will see plenty to pick apart in the study. Nobody seems to have a good explanation for the nationwide increase in crime, particularly involving the use of guns. There may be economic, societal and pandemic-related reasons for it. Easy access to guns, illegal and legal, certainly contributes to it.
Commonsense laws like requiring locked storage for guns and tighter background checks certainly make sense. How things play out with more innovative ones, such as requiring liability insurance, will be interesting to watch.
But concurrent with the increase in gun violence has been a softening of public opinion on tougher gun laws.
A
The survey said 35% believe laws covering the sale of firearms should be kept as they are now and 11% want regulations eased.
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Gun sales have increased dramatically over the past two years, with first-time buyers fueling the surge.
Meanwhile, there may be a perception that, contrary to the study's conclusions, gun laws may not be effective.
The study ranks
The more recent focus has been on
Newly elected Mayor
This week, President
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