Gun Laws and Murder Rates

Two of many guns carried at an open carry rally. To the surprise of many gun rights haters no one was shot that day.

Notice that the title isn't gun laws and gun death rates. Unlike the sleazy spinmeisters at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign I'm not cherry picking data to make a false point. In their 2013 State Scorecard Why Gun Laws Matter they claim that gun control works because there is allegedly a 70% overlap of strict gun control and low gun death rates. Reality looks a little different.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center's numbers the 10 states with the highest murder rates are: 1. Louisiana 2. Alabama 3. Mississippi 4. Maryland 5. Michigan 6. South Carolina 7. Missouri 8. New Mexico 9. Nevada 10. Georgia

According to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University the 10 states with the most respect for gun rights are: 1. Arizona 2. Alaska 3. Wyoming 4. Kentucky 5. Vermont 6. New Hampshire 7. Kansas 8. Nevada 9. South Dakota 10. Idaho

There's only one state, Nevada, on both lists. That's only 10% overlap. It should also be noted that Nevada is near the bottom of both lists further weakening the argument that gun control reduces murder rates.

Let's look at the situation from the other end of the spectrum:

According to the Death Penalty Information Center's numbers the 10 states with the lowest murder rates are: 50. Iowa 49. Hawaii 48. Vermont 47. Utah 46. New Hampshire 45. Idaho 44. Maine 43. Oregon 42. Massachusetts 41. Minnesota

According to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University the 10 states with the least respect for gun rights are: 50. California 49. Massachusetts 48. New York 47. Hawaii 46. New Jersey 45. Illinois 44, Maryland 43. Rhode Island 42. Connecticut 41. Michigan

Once again there is little correlation. Only two states appear on both lists, Hawaii and Massachusetts. Weakening the argument that gun control works is the fact that three states that appear on the list of low murder rate states, New Hampshire, Idaho, and Vermont, also appear on the list of states most respecting gun rights.

It does no good to implement gun control if the murder rate remains high. Since it is social factors that drive the murder rate up and down focusing on guns and gun laws kills people since it doesn't address the root causes of the violence. It's past time for gun rights haters to face the facts and stop barking up the wrong tree.