2022 FactCheck: on Gun Control

T.W. Shannon: FactCheck: gun violence rate higher in GOP-controlled states

Many prominent Republicans discuss America's gun violence epidemic [saying] that most shootings only occur in large cities in Democratic states, proving that gun laws make no difference. According to experts, however, it's an epidemic that touches rural communities just as much as urban ones, with disproportionate impacts on Republican-led states.

Between 2019 and 2020, Republican, largely rural states with low populations--MS, LA, WY, MO, AL, and AK--had the six highest per capita rates of gun deaths. These states also had the highest rates of gun ownership for the same period. In Mississippi, about half of adults live in a household with a gun.

The states with the lowest rates of gun deaths--HI, MA, and NJ--all were Democratic and have stricter gun laws. Rural America saw nearly the same spike in homicides as cities did in 2020, with deaths rising by 25%, .