Montgomery, Alabama –
(AP) - Alabama has been ranked second in a
national study on gun deaths per capita.
The five states topping the list were Louisiana, Alabama,
Alaska, Mississippi and Nevada, according to the Violence Policy
Center. The study looked at states with high gun ownership coupled
with what it called weak gun laws.
In states that fit that definition, gun death rates far exceed
the national rate of 10.32 per 100,000 residents, according to data
from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Alabama's rate was 16.99.
States with strong gun laws and low rates of gun ownership had
lower rates of firearm-related deaths in the study, which found
those states to be Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut
and New York.
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(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)