50-state study: More gun laws, fewer deaths

In this Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009 file photo, two guns lie at the scene where five people were shot and two suspects were taken into custody in a shooting incident that happened along the Mardi Gras parade route in New Orleans. / AP Photo/Alex Brandon

CHICAGO States with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths, according to a study that suggests sheer quantity of measures might make a difference.

But the research leaves many questions unanswered and won't settle the debate over how policymakers should respond to recent high-profile acts of gun violence.

In the dozen or so states with the most gun control-related laws, far fewer people were shot to death or killed themselves with guns than in the states with the fewest laws, the study found. Overall, states with the most laws had a 42 percent lower gun death rate than states with the least number of laws.

The results are based on an analysis of 2007-2010 gun-related homicides and suicides from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The researchers also used data on gun control measures in all 50 states compiled by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a well-known gun control advocacy group. They compared states by dividing them into four equal-sized groups according to the number of gun laws.

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The results were published online Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

More than 30,000 people nationwide die from guns every year nationwide, and there's evidence that gun-related violent crime rates have increased since 2008, a journal editorial noted.

During the four-years studied, there were nearly 122,000 gun deaths, 60 percent of them suicides.

"Our motivation was really to understand what are the interventions that can be done to reduce firearm mortality," said Dr. Eric Fleegler, the study's lead author and an emergency department pediatrician and researcher at Boston Children's Hospital.

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He said his study suggests but doesn't prove that gun laws — or something else — led to fewer gun deaths.

Fleegler is also among hundreds of doctors who have signed a petition urging President Barack Obama and Congress to pass gun safety legislation, a campaign organized by the advocacy group Doctors for America.

Gun rights advocates have argued that strict gun laws have failed to curb high murder rates in some cities, including Chicago and Washington, D.C. Fleegler said his study didn't examine city-level laws, while gun control advocates have said local laws aren't as effective when neighboring states have lax laws.

Previous research on the effectiveness of gun laws has had mixed results, and it's a "very challenging" area to study, said Dr. Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center For Gun Policy. He was not involved in the current study.

The strongest kind of research would require comparisons between states that have dissimilar gun laws but otherwise are nearly identical, "but there isn't a super nice twin for New Jersey," for example, a state with strict gun laws, Webster noted.

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Gun laws conversation

Fleegler said his study's conclusions took into account factors also linked with gun violence, including poverty, education levels and race, which vary among the states.

The average annual gun death rate ranged from almost 3 per 100,000 in Hawaii to 18 per 100,000 in Louisiana. Hawaii had 16 gun laws, and along with New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts was among states with the most laws and fewest deaths. States with the fewest laws and most deaths included Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

But there were outliers: South Dakota, for example, had just two guns laws but few deaths.

Editorial author Dr. Garen Wintemute, director the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, said the study doesn't answer which laws, if any, work.

Wintemute said it's likely that gun control measures are more readily enacted in states with few gun owners — a factor that might have more influence on gun deaths than the number of laws.

[RBP917]

Everyone should be concerned about the staggering number of suicides. I understand that while not every suicide is a tragedy, many are. I hope people who see any weapon as a tool of self protection also consider the threat of suicide as something to be defended against especially if they have family who are particularly vulnerable.

[chuckswaggin]

Final paragraph says it all...

[whtnationalist]

"More gun laws fewer deaths" "States with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths"
The very first line shows the headline to be a blatant lie. The study only shows fewer GUN deaths. Such obvious lies as this are why people don't trust the media any more. Just how dumb do you think we are?

[whtnationalist]

Of course gun deaths go down when criminals have to use other weapons. Same with suicides, if guns are not available then slitting wrists, pills, car wrecks, etc are used instead. I did a study of Brady Campaign state gun law ratings versus FBI violent crime rating. The result showed no relationship. Strict gun laws do nothing to prevent violent crimes. Makes sense as unarmed victims are easily defeated by brute force. See the study by googling "rideronthestorm-armed" and follow link at "Reasons Why New Gun Control Laws Won't Work".

[Bojax39]

"Overall, states with the most laws had a 42 percent lower gun death rate than states with the least number of laws."

Wonder which liberal spin doctor pulled those stats out of his butt?

[sassywon3]

Wow. Sure are lots of deniers on here. Panic mode sets in just because one study is published, and if one reads the article, the study says nothing is conclusive?

Talk about reactionary....

[whtnationalist]

Remember we deal with Gun Ban Lobby fanatics. State wide newspaper Des Moines Register even called for the murder of gun owners. Other media is posting names and addresses of gun owners. Apparently to send gun ban fanatics to harm innocent gun owners. Google "kaul kill nra" to read more about DMR death threat.

[GWag1117]

Comparing Hawaii to a mainland state is just absurd. The culture in Hawaii is so different even if the population numbers are comparable. These studies are a waste of money and ridiculous. Maybe if there were coming from a reliable source other than the only state that doesn't have a concealed carry protocol and is trying to fight being forced to created one. It doesn't take millions to know a bad guy would rather not screw with a person that could kill them, they go after the unprotected.

[[oweghn]

That's the answer. Everybody light up a bud.

[Middle_American]

What these studies always fail to mention are the details of the 30,000 gun homicides. Included in that number are criminals shot by police and armed citizens, criminals killing other criminals, and suicides. The bulk of "homicides" are criminals killing other criminals. Good riddance. Sorry if I lack compassion for violent miscreants.

[[oweghn]

The majority of gun deaths are suicides. If guns were not available, the one committing suicide could run their car into a bridge abutment which would mask the suicide. And that "study" recently done that stated gun deaths will soon out number auto deaths would be blown out of the water. Numbers can be manipulated to make any point you want.

[dkn1234]

They must have excluded Chicago, Detroit, Camden, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington DC in this study.

[Handysteve1]

That's like asking a rapist if using a condom makes him want to rape less or more.... dumb *****!!!!!