Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Deadliest Gun States

20 Deadliest Gun States, From Mississippi to Arizona - The Daily Beast:


It's difficult to make a direct correlation between legal gun ownership and violence. Jared Lee Loughner may have purchased a gun in Arizona, a state with the most permissive gun laws in America, but there aren't laws in any state that can prevent a person with a clean record from obtaining a firearm for a premeditated massacre. In fact, among the top 20 states with the strictest gun laws, as rated by the Legal Community Against Violence, seven have death rates from guns that are higher than the national average.
Looking at the list, I don't see any evidence to support the ideological claim that we're safer when more people have guns. That said, I'm interested if there are any studies that bear out the claim, or if the only arguments for safety are anecdotal and/or motivated by ideology.
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