New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that states with the nation’s highest rates of gun death in 2017 are those with weak gun violence prevention laws and higher rates of gun ownership, the Violence Policy Center reports.
States with the lowest gun- death rates have some of the strongest gun violence prevention laws and lower rates of gun ownership. The state with the highest per capita gun-death rate in was Alaska, followed by Montana, Alabama, Louisiana, and Missouri. Those states have lax gun violence prevention laws as well as a higher rate of gun ownership, the center says.
The state with the nation’s lowest gun-death rate was Hawaii, followed by Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Those states have strong gun violence prevention laws and a lower rate of gun ownership. The number of Americans killed by gunfire increased to 39,773 in 2017 from 38,658 in 2016.