AJC
As deaths from gunshot wounds rose steadily in Georgia and most other
states, the District of Columbia crafted a narrative-busting success
story. Once one of the nation’s most violent jurisdictions, the District
reduced firearms deaths by more than half, even as its strict
gun-control laws came under attack in Congress and the courts.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of government statistics,
insurance industry data and reports from state vital-records agencies
found that Washington cut gun deaths by 58 percent over the past decade.
Besides D.C., only four states reported fewer gun deaths in 2013 than
in 2003, the Journal-Constitution found: New York (down 17 percent),
California (down 13 percent), Maryland (down 11 percent) and Illinois
(down 3 percent). In New Mexico, the same number of people died from
gunshot wounds in 2013 as in 2003.
Nationwide, gun deaths rose by 12 percent; in Georgia, the increase
was 8 percent. Maine had the highest rate of increase: 93 percent. In
all, nine states recorded increases in gun deaths of at least 25
percent. Those include Utah (up 47 percent) and Oklahoma (up 41
percent).
Debate Magazine
