Arizona's gun-death rate among the worst in U.S.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

by Ronald J. Hansen - Jan. 27, 2011 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

From murders to suicides, Arizona is consistently among the most deadly states in the nation for gun violence, federal records show.

Over a nine-year span, the state's rate of gun deaths of all types ranked seventh in the United States and sixth for gun-involved slayings, according to an Arizona Republic analysis of death reports compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The rankings are based on data from 1999 to 2007, the most recent statistics available from the CDC.

Overall, violent-crime rates in Arizona are not far from rates for the U.S. as a whole, but the rate of deaths specifically tied to guns surprises national experts.

Crime-victimization patterns that measure factors such as age and racial demographics suggest that Arizona would figure to be among the states with a lower risk for violent crime.

"That's much higher than I would expect the state to be," said Franklin Zimring, a law professor at the University of California-Berkeley who studies demographic factors in crime. "The demographic-risk profile should keep Arizona lower. It's higher than expected. Now, the question is: Why?"

Gun violence is facing renewed scrutiny after the Jan. 8 massacre near Tucson that killed six and wounded 13, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., a gun-rights advocate herself.

Arizona, as the cultural symbol of the Old West with a fierce independent streak and strong support for gun rights, is the focus of that interest.

"You've got a lot of guns," Zimring said. "To some extent, the laws are maybe trying to encourage that; and if so, you're paying a price for it. But there are a lot of other factors."

As of October, Phoenix and Tucson trailed only Houston for the number of federal licenses allowing the sale, resale, manufacturing or importation of firearms, according to data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. As a state, Arizona ranked 16th in licensed gun dealers. Texas was first.

Tucson ranked first among the nation's cities for licenses specifically involving the manufacturing of firearms, and Phoenix and Mesa were in the top four.

Ariz. gun murders

Arizona reported more than 3,000 murders with guns over a nine-year span (1999-2007), according to CDC data. That amounts to six gun murders per 100,000 residents. The national rate was about four.

Arizona's total gun-death rate - a figure that includes murders, suicides, accidents, police shootings and other unclassified killings - was nearly 16 per 100,000. The national rate was about 10.

"Places that have more guns have more gun violence, and Arizona is very high on that," said Gary Kleck, a criminologist at Florida State University whose work on the defensive use of firearms has made him one of the leading scholars on gun rights. His book, "Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America," raised questions about the value of gun-control laws.

"You can take very seriously the CDC data," he said, "as long as you keep in mind that there isn't any relationship between gun-ownership rates and the total suicide rate or homicide rate."

Crime data collected by the FBI show Arizona is not especially violent. From 2005 to 2009, the state's murder rate was higher than the national average, but its overall violent-crime rate fell below the national average in 2008 and 2009. That was largely because of steep drops in aggravated assaults, which fell below the national rate and far outnumber slayings.

Zimring and Kleck caution against presumptions that state gun laws explain gun-death numbers, saying there are too many other factors involved.

The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence, which advocates for stricter gun control, rates states based on their gun laws, with low scores signaling liberal gun laws and high scores conservative ones. Arizona receives two of 100 possible points.

Neighboring states Nevada and New Mexico, also considered to have more liberal gun laws, fared poorly in the CDC data. But states such as Texas, with relatively loose gun laws, and California, with its strict gun laws, finished near the national average for overall gun deaths.

Six of the states that Brady rates as having weak gun-control laws are in the top 10 for highest overall gun-death rates, excluding Washington, D.C., which easily has the worst violence rate but is not a state. At the same time, six of the states it rates as having strong gun-control laws were in the top 10 for lowest un-death rates.

But only two of the states that Brady rates as having relatively weak gun-control laws are in the top 10 for homicides with guns. Meanwhile, two of its states with relatively strong laws also appear in the top 10.

A look at suicides

If Arizona is relatively high in gun deaths, it is likely because the state is one of the leading states in the nation for gun ownership, Kleck said.

One of the best indicators of gun ownership is the level of gun-involved suicide rates, he said. The CDC numbers show Arizona ranked ninth in suicides with guns.

The suicide numbers differ sharply from Massachusetts', a state about as populous as Arizona but generally regarded as less gun-friendly.

In the last two years of data (2006-07), when the states were closest in population, Arizona reported 880 suicides not involving guns; Massachusetts reported 751. At the same time, Massachusetts reported 215 suicides by guns while Arizona reported 1,115.

Even the police in Arizona kill more often than in other states, the data shows. Arizona ranked sixth in legal-intervention deaths involving firearms, although such incidents are rare.

Arizona's rate was double the nation's in that category. Arizona authorities used guns to kill 113 people over nine years.

Staff writers Ryan Konig and Daniel González contributed to this article.

Read more: http://www.azcentral...l#ixzz1CFqlEQgv

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(from this morning's front page Arizona Republic)

This news won't make any difference. Only marxists and librul dipshits read that newspaper. Real God fearin' Amurkins get their news from Hannity and Beck.

[Captain Oates 911]

Arizona suffers from a desperate lack of guns and that slaughter would not have happened if the shooter's mother had shot him in the face at birth with a 12 gauge semi auto with BB magnum shells and then hung his body up outside in the sun as a warning to other babies who looked a little weird at birth

Every schoolchild in AZ should have a bag full of guns with backups strapped to their ankles and a Bowie knife in a back strap

Out of state kids who come to do sports in AZ should be handicapped with 15 lbs of lead weights strapped to them to make the competition fair

Any projects areas with a crime rate exceeding 10 criminals per 100,000 should have daisy cutter bombs dropped on them without further notice

Only by actively seeking to improve the community by specific and bold and all-American policies, can the country finally live up to the ideals of the founding fathers and be a fit place for decent people, who don't look even a tiny bit weird, to live in

ps After the projects have been levelled with said bombs, Caterpillar dozers (I have the stocks) could be used to clean it up so that the area can be converted to a heavy machine gun range for non weird looking citizens to practise with their house protection 50 caliber weapons

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Arizona suffers from a desperate lack of guns and that slaughter would not have happened if the shooter's mother had shot him in the face at birth with a 12 gauge semi auto with BB magnum shells and then hung his body up outside in the sun as a warning to other babies who looked a little weird at birth

Every schoolchild in AZ should have a bag full of guns with backups strapped to their ankles and a Bowie knife in a back strap

Out of state kids who come to do sports in AZ should be handicapped with 15 lbs of lead weights strapped to them to make the competition fair

Any projects areas with a crime rate exceeding 10 criminals per 100,000 should have daisy cutter bombs dropped on them without further notice

Only by actively seeking to improve the community by specific and bold and all-American policies, can the country finally live up to the ideals of the founding fathers and be a fit place for decent people, who don't look even a tiny bit weird, to live in

ps After the projects have been levelled with said bombs, Caterpillar dozers (I have the stocks) could be used to clean it up so that the area can be converted to a heavy machine gun range for non weird looking citizens to practise with their house protection 50 caliber weapons

Word. All they need to do is elimate any and all restrictions and regulations on guns and lower the bar for justification to use them. AZ would turn into the safest state in the nation - sratch that - the world. This is all the libruls fault.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Elephant in the room?

[Captain Oates 911]

Word. All they need to do is elimate any and all restrictions and regulations on guns and lower the bar for justification to use them. AZ would turn into the safest state in the nation - sratch that - the world. This is all the libruls fault.

The safest place for gun deaths in the world is Antarctica

The safest place for gun deaths in the solar system is mars

There are very few Americans in the first location and non in the second

I agree that once the Arizonoids have butchered each other with a huge influx of weapons freely distributed, the gun deaths will fall to zero

However that's like when Jim Jones solved the problem of impending 'end of days' by getting everyone to commit suicide. Before that, he solved the problem of his mother's low ceiling by cutting her head off.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Elephant in the room?

Ewwww, scawwy. Quick, grab your gun! They're coming after your yard grass!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

If this were abortion or birth control or teenage pregnancy woul dyou suggest outlawing sex? No. You would suggest education in public schools.

Education reduces accidents and misuse of firearms. Arizona should mandate firearms safety classes in schools. The NRA will privide materials for education free of charge.

[Captain Oates 911]

If this were abortion or birth control or teenage pregnancy woul dyou suggest outlawing sex? No. You would suggest education in public schools.

Education reduces accidents and misuse of firearms. Arizona should mandate firearms safety classes in schools. The NRA will privide materials for education free of charge.

Physical fitnesses classes so the kids could could run faster, is better than showing people how to get involved in a gun fight in a classroom. Darwinism. Survival of the unfattest. Have lots of sex and run away from danger because that's why there are more rabbits than panthers

Sorry Rush you will have to stay and shoot it out if you can find that Ruger under your armpit

..imagine Rush's armpit - that's no place for working machinery but a good place to hide viagra because Rush's armpit is like Gary, Indiana - everyone knows where it is but nobody wants to go there.

It's better to die on your feet...than live on your knees'

'No it's not ' - :Black Adder

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Ewwww, scawwy. Quick, grab your gun! They're coming after your yard grass!

I always have my gun with me. No need to "grab it"

Physical fitnesses classes so the kids could could run faster, is better than showing people how to get involved in a gun fight in a classroom. Darwinism. Survival of the unfattest. Have lots of sex and run away from danger because that's why there are more rabbits than panthers

Sorry Rush you will have to stay and shoot it out if you can find that Ruger under your armpit

..imagine Rush's armpit - that's no place for working machinery but a good place to hide viagra because Rush's armpit is like Gary, Indiana - everyone knows where it is but nobody wants to go there.

It's better to die on your feet...than live on your knees'

'No it's not ' - :Black Adder

You are opposed to educating people on firearms safety?

[Captain Oates 911]

You are opposed to educating people on firearms safety?

Shooters should be educated at the club before they get their permit to own. I bought my AR-15 3 years ago and went to the range and tried to figure out which end the bullet out of and how to load it. That's too lax. Wouldn't happen in the yookay

I would rather educate kids in comparisons of health care in various parts of the world and in the tenets of atheism versus religion in an unbiased way, as these sorts of matters apply to everyone and everyone is not interested in guns and the majority will never handle one.

It's like learning to wrestle an alligator - could be useful if you wander off into the everglades all drunk while visiting Florida - but unlikely and not worth the effort

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Shooters should be educated at the club before they get their permit to own. I bought my AR-15 3 years ago and went to the range and tried to figure out which end the bullet out of and how to load it. That's too lax. Wouldn't happen in the yookay

I would rather educate kids in comparisons of health care in various parts of the world and in the tenets of atheism versus religion in an unbiased way, as these sorts of matters apply to everyone and everyone is not interested in guns and the majority will never handle one.

It's like learning to wrestle an alligator - could be useful if you wander off into the everglades all drunk while visiting Florida - but unlikely and not worth the effort

Are you opposed to people being educated in firearms safety?

[Ban Hammer 13,669]

Shooters should be educated at the club before they get their permit to own.

permit to own?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

permit to own?

Let him talk. Please...go on Alan. Where did you study to get your permit to own?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Let him talk. Please...go on Alan. Where did you study to get your permit to own?

He is homesick for the old country. This will be a long night.