I have been looking at the Guardian report on Firearm Crime <http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-crime-us-state>. As an old solution focussed family therapist, I note there is an intriguing difference between the various US states.
Looking at the extremes we can group into 2:
Group 1
Vermont (0.32), New Hampshire (0.38), Hawaii (0.54), North Dakota (0.61), Iowa (0.69), Idaho (0.77), Utah (0.78), Maine (0.84), Wyoming (0.91), Oregon (0.93), South Dakota (0.98), Minnesota (1.0); all have 2010 rates of firearm murder of 1 per 100,000 or less.
Group 2
Arkansas (3.2), California (3.37), Arizona (3.47), Mississippi (4.05), Michigan (4.16), Delaware (4.26), South Carolina (4.5), Maryland (5.11), Missouri (5.34), Louisiana (7.75), District of Columbia (16); all have 2010 rates of firearm murder at least three times higher – ie ranging from 3.2 to 16 per 100,000.
Less than 30% of murders in Vermont, New Hampshire and Hawaii are gun related, yet 80% of murders in Louisiana, and 75% in DC are gun-related.
The difference between Group 1 and Group 2 does not appear to be geographic in origin. Is it perhaps poitical or socio-economic? What are the group 1 states doing well to enable them to keep their rates of gun related deaths low?
The Guardian does not report suicides by firearm. Can anyone match the states comparing gun-related murder rates with gun-related suicide rates per 100,000?
Graham was a UK GP before training in Psychiatry in Australia. He has been dedicated for more than 40 years to psychiatric practice in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Follow Graham's early development in over 40 posts below. Search for 'Making of a Child Psychiatrist'
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