VPC stats show gun states have higher gun deaths.

[Pushrod]

How do we contradict these so-called statistics? The anit-gun polititcians will eat up these stats!

http://www.vpc.org/press/0905gundeath.htm

States with Higher Gun Ownership and Weak Gun Laws Lead Nation in Gun Death
Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, and Nevada Have Highest Gun Death Rates

Washington, DC—States with higher gun ownership rates and weak gun laws have the highest rates of gun death according to a new analysis by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) of just-released 2006 national data (the most recent available) from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

The analysis reveals that the five states with the highest per capita gun death rates were Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, and Nevada. Each of these states had a per capita gun death rate far exceeding the national per capita gun death rate of 10.32 per 100,000 for 2006. Each state has lax gun laws and higher gun ownership rates. By contrast, states with strong gun laws and low rates of gun ownership had far lower rates of firearm-related death. Ranking last in the nation for gun death was Hawaii, followed by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. (See chart below for top and bottom five states. See http://www.vpc.org/fadeathchart09.htm for a ranking of all 50 states.)

States with the Five Highest Gun Death Rates
States with the Five Lowest Gun Death Rates

Rank
State
Household Gun Ownership Gun Death Rate per 100,000 Rank State Household Gun Ownership Gun Death Rate per 100,000
1 Louisiana 45.6 percent 19.58 50 Hawaii 9.7 percent 2.58
2 Alabama 57.2 percent 16.99 49 Massachusetts 12.8 percent 3.28
3 (tie) Alaska 60.6 percent 16.38 48 Rhode Island 13.3 percent 4.43
3 (tie) Mississippi 54.3 percent 16.38 47 Connecticut 16.2 percent 4.95
5 Nevada 31.5 percent 16.25 46 New York 18.1 percent 5.20


VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “More guns means more gun death and injury. Fewer guns means less gun death and injury. It’s a simple equation.”

The VPC defined states with “weak” gun laws as those that add little or nothing to federal restrictions and have permissive concealed carry laws allowing civilians to carry concealed handguns. States with “strong” gun laws were defined as those that add significant state regulation in addition to federal law, such as restricting access to particularly hazardous types of firearms (for example, assault weapons), setting minimum safety standards for firearms and/or requiring a permit to purchase a firearm, and have restrictive concealed carry laws.

 

[rbernie]

Compare overall crime rates. It's not a leap of logic that states that allow personal firearm ownership will see those fireams proportionally represented in crime stats.

The real question is whether the states with stricter gun control had lower OVERALL violent crime rates. If not (and they don't), then you have proof positive that gun control does not impact crime.

The VPC study is the mental equivilent of saying that people with swimming pools in their back yard often get wet.

 

[General Geoff]

I want to know what they define as a "gun death."

 

[olav_a]

A "Gun Death" is when the gun is no longer operational due to rust, bad reloads, general misuse etc.

 

[JR47]

This, of course, includes suicides, accidental shootings, and hunting accidents. It has nothing to do, in those cases, with criminal use, but is necessary to provide the skewed statistics.

 

[General Geoff]

I'm still trying to FIND these statistics on the CDC site, but to no avail. If anyone can verify the source of these stats, please do.


I bet the suicide rate is what vastly skews these numbers, if they are in fact genuine.

 

[WoofersInc]

The VPC got the statistics that they used from The Centers for Disease Control. Not exactly another pro gun organization. The CDC used ALL gun deaths in their stats. Murder, suicide, etc. These stats also include justifiable shootings.
I found this on another site it list total homicides for the year 2005.

http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_hom_tot_num_of_vic-crime-homicide-total-number-victims

Notice that California is at the top of the list and New York is third. Change out the types of homicides and look how the numbers change.
When you start looking at things by "Per Capita" as VPC is the real numbers can get screwed.
The states that they are using as the worst have higher numbers of guns but also have a lower overall population compared to New York which they use as an example. But New York also is one of the leaders in murder. Once again. If the bad guys want you dead they will find a way

 

[RP88]

one statistical error is that they try to correlate household gun owners to the crime caused by illegal gun 'owners' that are obviously not going to be represented in any statistical value.

 

[Phatty]

I think that accidental deaths from a firearm are legitimate "gun deaths" when discussing policy. However, suicides should not be included as "gun deaths" because the gun was not responsible for the death. If the person did not have access to a gun, they would have just used another method to kill themselves. It always annoys me when people point to gun suicides as a reason to restrict gun ownership, as if people only commit suicide because a gun is nearby.

 

[General Geoff]

However, suicides should not be included as "gun deaths" because the gun was not responsible for the death.

The gun is not responsible for any death. It does not have a mind of its own.

 

[scrat]

dumbest thing i have ever heard.

Do they also say that states with cars have a higher death rate as well

 

[RP88]

edit: screw-up

 

[alan93]

Typical Anti-Gun Nonsense

nothin more than half-truths and smoke and mirrors with stats.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2944-Denv...9m5d8-The-Violence-Policy-Center-has-it-wrong

Another thing they do, or don't do I should say is stipulate "gun" deaths as 55% are suicide.

I agree there are more drowning deaths in homes with swimming pools. And....pools are not protected by the 2nd ammendment so why are we allowing them?? Or at least have a waiting period before allowing someone with kids to put a pool in their home, or require CPR training before pool permits are granted.

 

[Phatty]

I notice that they don't include the District of Columbia which has a much, much higher gun death rate than any of the states, even though it has some of the most restrictive gun laws.

 

[Phatty]

The gun is not responsible for any death. It does not have a mind of its own.

I struggled with my choice of words because I knew I would elicit a response like that. I was trying to distinguish an accidental gun death (where, but for the gun, the death would not have happened) with a suicide gun death (where the death would have still occurred even if the gun was not present). This idea can also be extended to criminal acts, where the criminal may still have committed the crime even if a gun was not available (i.e. stabbing).

 

[22-rimfire]

I believe the statistics are intentionally skewed as it is an anti-gun article. The CDC is not known for it's support of the Second Amendment. Remember in the past that politicans tried to make guns and crime a health issue and hence I suspect easier to regulate by non-elected individuals.

The per capita rates certainly reduce the apparent incidence of death for the most populous states.

I wonder where the statistics for gun ownership came from since there is no registration. Ever wonder?

 

[Guns and more]

Something smells in this "research".

 

[Blackbeard]

Whenever you see the term "gun deaths" they're including suicides, accidents, and probably shootings by police.

 

[Gunnerpalace]

The 24 year old gangbanger Child shot by cops? Cause they did this before,


I'm sure this is skewed,

 

[KBintheSLC]

Judging by the name of this organization, I bet my family jewels that this "statistical study" is pure fecal matter.

I assume it must include all deaths by gunshot... not just violent crimes. The fact is that suicides make up about half of all gun deaths, and people will use whatever they have access to to commit suicide. If its a gun, they use a gun. If they can't get a gun, they will jump, swallow, cut, or hang themselves to death. Therefore, if guns are more readily available, there might appear to be more gun deaths if we include suicide.

However, we should ask them how many people have died as a result of excessive gun control. Ask them about gun control under Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc. Frankly, I would rather lose a few thousand lives to tragedies, than lose millions of lives to genocides and dictatorships.

...

 

[benEzra]

Notice how they don't mention that New Hampshire, with the lowest murder rate in the nation, is significantly more firearm friendly than Alabama...

 

[JShirley]

Violent Crime Statistics.

John

 

[Jeff White]

Of course states with more firearms owned per capita have a higher rate of firearms death. I bet more people die of hypothermia in Alaska then in FLorida too.....

In 2004 the National Institute of Science released a study that shows there is no correlation between gun laws and crime. Laws restricting guns and gun ownership and laws that permitted people to carry firearms and didn't restrict gun ownership had a negligible effect on the crime rate.

Guns and crime are not related. Laws restricting them or lack of such laws makes no difference.

 

[unspellable]

Deadly

Tomatoes used to be thought of as deadly. The facts bear this out, just look at the statistics. Almost every person who ate tomatoes between 1809 and 1909 is now dead.

 

[Rellian]

I tend to question the validity of this report as well. They say gun deaths per 100,000 in their handy-dandy (un-cited I might add) chart. Some basic math shows that if this were the case then the approximate numbers of actual deaths for 2006 would fall out accordingly:

(Keep in mind I rounded UP to whole in number of deaths per 100,000; and DOWN in terms of total numbers)

Louisiana: (Pop 4,410,796)=882 Gun Deaths
Alabama: (Pop 4,661,900)=792 Gun Deaths
Alaska: (Pop 686,293)=116 Gun Deaths
Mississippi (Pop 2,938,618)=499 Gun Deaths
Nevada (Pop 2,600,167)=442 Gun Deaths

(now here's where I start to wonder)

Hawaii: (Pop 1,288,198)= 38 Gun Deaths
Massachusetts: (Pop 6,497,967)=259 Gun Deaths
Rhode Island: (Pop 1,050,788)=52 Gun Deaths
Connecticut: (Pop 3,501,252)=175 Gun Deaths
New York: (Pop 19,490,297)= 1169 Gun Deaths

Thirty eight gun deaths?...... (while it is possible it may be true), I find it hard to swallow.
Secondly the difference between Louisiana and Hawaii (again if their numbers are factual) is the difference between .02% of the population and .003% Not really a big difference in the larger scope.
Lastly the question I have is:
Are the higher numbers possibly indicative of people getting their @$$es shot whilst trying to burgle perhaps?
It would not surprise me if they included in their numbers perpetrators shot by potential victims who turned out to be armed.....