Study by Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence Shows States with Strong Gun Laws Have Fewer Gun Deaths
(Long Island, NY) New York State has again earned high marks for its strong gun laws, according to a new state-by-state analysis by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the nation’s leading resource for tracking and analyzing gun laws. In the Center’s 2015 Gun Law State Scorecard, which assigns a letter grade and ranking to each state based on the strength of its gun laws, New York State earned an overall grade of A- and has the nation’s third lowest gun death rate.
Issued annually, the Gun Law State Scorecard continues to reveal a strong correlation between strong gun laws and fewer gun deaths. States with the weakest laws, like Wyoming and Mississippi, have some of the highest gun death rates in the country, while states with strong laws, like Massachusetts and New York, have some of the lowest gun death rates.
This year’s Scorecard comes at the tail-end of a year of seemingly relentless gun violence, with more mass shootings than days. High-profile killings from Charleston, SC to Roseburg, OR to San Bernardino, CA dominated the headlines in 2015 and public outcry over America’s gun violence epidemic has reached a fever pitch.
“While Congress has shamefully failed to act on widely supported firearms policies like universal background checks and prohibiting gun possession by those on the terror watch list, we have seen encouraging, lifesaving progress at the state level,” said Robyn Thomas, Executive Director of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “The 2015 Gun Law Scorecard shows that smart gun laws make a real difference. State legislators can make their communities safer by enacting common-sense gun laws, following in the footsteps of states like California and New York. Change isn’t just possible – it’s happening,” she added.
“In New York we know that our strong gun laws work. Gun deaths in our state have fallen four years in a row from 2010-2013, whereas nationally they have risen over the same period. As Congress fails to act to protect the safety of its citizens, it’s up to states like New York to lead,” said Leah Gunn Barrett, Executive Director of NYAGV.
“But we also know there’s room for improvement. We are advocating for safe storage laws on both the state and municipal level to keep guns out of the hands of children and to stop the theft of guns that end up on our streets. In September, Albany became the fifth New York municipality to enact a firearm safe storage law,” said Gunn Barrett. “We also know that polls show that New Yorkers–even gun owners– support common sense gun laws and new measures to prevent more gun deaths. We are grateful that our elected leaders have listened and hope they will continue to listen and, most importantly, act to keep New Yorkers safe,” she added.
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence is a statewide advocacy group working to reduce gun violence through advocacy and education designed to encourage action, influence public opinion and lead to policy change. With a primary focus on New York State, the organization also advocates at the local and national levels for sensible gun laws, policies and practices that protect New York State residents from gun violence.
- www.nyagv.org
- Twitter: @NYAGV1
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/nyagv
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence was founded after a 1993 shooting in San Francisco that left eight dead. Today, it is a national law center focusing on providing comprehensive legal expertise in support of gun violence prevention. The Law Center partners with state legislators, community groups and others to advance its mission to prevent gun violence in America.
