Gun violence is a major concern for everyone in the United States, which is why statistics on gun violence are maintained. The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) maintains statistics on deaths caused by guns each year by state. In addition, the FBI keeps track of violent crime rates in the U.S. This has enabled research companies like 24/7 Wall St. to create a list of the top 10 U.S. states that have the worst gun violence.
According to research by 24/7 Wall St., the most important factors affecting firearm deaths are economic factors such as poverty rate, limited access to better hospitals, education level, and median household income. Sadly, most of the worst states for gun violence are in the South where these same contributing factors appear the most.
Top 10 worst states for gun violence/ firearm death rate/ poverty rate:
#1 - Alaska: death rate: 19.6 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 9.3 percent
#2 - Louisiana: death rate: 19.1 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 19.8 percent
#3 - Mississippi: death rate: 17.7 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 24.0 percent (the highest in the nation)
#4 - Alabama: death rate: 17.5 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 18.7 percent
#5 - Montana: death rate: 16.8 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 16.5 percent
#6 - Arkansas: death rate: 16.7 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 19.7 percent
#7 - Wyoming: death rate: 16.5 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 10.9 percent
#8 - Oklahoma: death rate: 16.5 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 16.8 percent
#9 - New Mexico: death rate: 15.4 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 21.9 percent (2nd highest in the nation)
#10 - Tennessee: death rate: 15.4 per 100,000/ poverty rate: 17.8 percent
