More Guns = More Gun Deaths, Duh!

I recently wandered through the Violence Policy Center's web site and it is an eye opener when it comes to gun-related violence.  I support the Second Amendment but I also feel there are way too many guns floating around our country.  I have been a gun owner in the past, so if any NRA folks read this and flame me, get over it!

I am a strong advocate of gun control.  Here's why:

In states where gun ownership is lowest, gun deaths are lowest.  Pretty easy equation and yet too many folks just can't make this connection, so here is a simple chart to give you the idea in sound figures.

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	19.87	50	Hawaii	9.7 percent	2.82
2	Mississippi	54.3 percent	18.32	49	Rhode Island	13.3 percent	3.51
3	Alaska	60.6 percent	17.62	48	Massachusetts	12.8 percent	3.63
4	Alabama	57.2 percent	17.55	47	Connecticut	16.2 percent	4.27
5	Nevada	31.5 percent	16.21	46	New York	18.1 percent	5.07

Note from the VPC: The VPC defined states with "weak" gun laws as those that add little or nothing to federal restrictions and have permissive laws governing the open or concealed carrying of firearms in public. 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 restrictive laws governing the open and concealed carrying of firearms in public. State gun ownership rates were obtained from the September 2005 Pediatrics article “Prevalence of Household Firearms and Firearm-Storage Practices in the 50 States and the District of Columbia: Findings From the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2002,” which is the most up-to-date, comprehensive source for state gun ownership rates.

So now, let's see...less guns means less death, sounds like a pretty good idea to me.