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Different Correlation Between States With Strict Gun Laws And Gun Violence

Decent Essays

Isenstein writing for the National Journal proposes that there is a distinct correlation between states with strict gun laws and gun violence. “The states that im¬pose the most re¬stric¬tions on gun users also have the low¬est rates of gun-re¬lated deaths, while states with few¬er reg¬u¬la¬tions typ¬ic-ally have a much high¬er death rate from guns.” (Isenstein) The charts that are presented in the article support the claim, but again bring up the question about the variables used to define death rates from guns. Annotations to the article imply that some outside influence caused a revision to update some charts to only display gun-related homicides and exclude suicides and accidental deaths. Sullum critiques the study and points out a different perspective from the same data. He underscores that the rankings can be drastically altered by focusing on homicides and not including suicides. Wyoming is ranked for having a high suicide rate but a low homicide rate whereas the District of Columbia has a low suicide rate but high homicide rate. (Sullum) The National Journal shows that the six states with the lowest rates of gun-related deaths in 2013 also have relatively strict gun policies when considering the laws for purchasing and carrying handguns. Additionally, these states do not have a ‘stand your ground’ law. (Isenstein) Sullum contends that these states alone have a correlation between gun deaths and strict gun control laws. His example of a contradiction is New

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