New data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that states with the highest rates of overall gun death in the nation are those with weaker gun violence prevention laws and higher rates of gun ownership, according to a new Violence Policy Center (VPC) analysis.
The state with the highest gun death rate in 2024 was Mississippi, followed by New Mexico, Alaska, Alabama, and Wyoming. The state with the lowest gun death rate in the nation was Hawaii, followed by Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
Colorado tied with West Virginia at #21.
States with stronger gun violence prevention laws were defined as those that add significant state regulation absent from federal law, such as restricting access to particularly hazardous and deadly types of firearms (for example, assault weapons); setting minimum safety standards for firearms and/or requiring a permit to purchase a firearm; and restrictions on the open and concealed carrying of firearms in public. States with weaker gun violence prevention laws were defined as those that add little or nothing to federal law and have permissive laws governing the open or concealed carrying of firearms in public.
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