Hawaii had the lowest聽gun-death rate in 2014 鈥� the most recent year for available聽data 鈥� when looking at household gun-ownership rates. Rhode Island was not far behind.
The state with the highest聽gun-death rate was Alaska followed by Louisiana.
That news comes from a聽 analysis of from the and Prevention鈥檚 .
According to a press release Monday from the Violence Policy Center, “states with the lowest overall gun death rates have lower rates of gun ownership and some of the strongest gun violence prevention laws in the nation. However, even in these states the human toll of gun violence is far above the gun death rate in other industrialized nations.”
The total number of Americans killed by gunfire, says the聽group, dropped聽to 33,599 in 2014 from 33,636 in 2013.
“America鈥檚 gun death rates 鈥� both nationwide and in the states 鈥� dwarf those of other industrialized nations,” says VCP.
Hawaii earned聽top honors as the state with the lowest gun-death rate last year, too, while Alaska also had聽the highest gun-death rate, based on 2012 data. At the time, the VCP reached the same conclusion about gun-ownership laws and gun聽violence.
The new study comes as President Obama is an executive order regarding gun control.
GET IN-DEPTH
REPORTING ON HAWAII鈥橲 BIGGEST ISSUES
We need your help.
Unfortunately, being named a聽finalist for a聽Pulitzer prize聽doesn’t make us immune to financial pressures. The fact is,聽our revenue hasn鈥檛 kept pace with our need to grow,听.
Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in 贬补飞补颈驶颈. We鈥檙e looking to build a more resilient, diverse and deeply impactful media landscape, and聽we hope you鈥檒l help by .
About the Author
-
Chad Blair is the politics editor for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at cblair@civilbeat.org or follow him on X at .