NewsTracker Answers for week of Oct. 30, 2023

Q: A lone gunman in Maine shot and killed 18 people at two locations in Maine in less than a half-hour last week. That was one more killed than in all the firearm homicides recorded in the state during 2021. Where is Maine?

Circle the area on this map

Q: About 47 percent of Maine’s adults own guns, but the state has a relatively low rate of gun deaths - 12.6 deaths for every 100,000 people. Still, that rate is higher than its neighbors in the Northeast. Which state has the lowest death rate from firearms?

A. Connecticut

B. Massachusetts

C. New Jersey

D. New York

B. Massachusetts has only 3.4 gun deaths for every 100,000 of its residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It was followed in 2021 by Hawaii and then the northeast states of New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.

Q: Massachusetts is wealthy with the nation’s highest average income of $83,229 per person. Which state has both the lowest income for each person and the highest death rate from guns?

A. Alabama

B. Louisiana

C. Mississippi

D. New Mexico

C. Mississippi’s gun fatality rate was 33.9 deaths per 100,000 people. That’s about 10 times higher than in Massachusetts. Mississippi was at the bottom of the list, just below Louisiana, New Mexico, and Alabama. While these states are poorer than the northeastern states, income alone does not determine firearm death rates.

Q: After last week’s mass shooting, a congressman from Maine dramatically reversed his opposition to efforts to ban assault-style rifles. Most of the states with the lowest firearm death rates have strict gun laws. But, which one of the seven “safest” states has few firearm restrictions?

A. New Hampshire

B. New Jersey

C. New York

D. Rhode Island

A. Like its neighbor Maine, New Hampshire has few limits on buying or carrying guns. While stricter gun laws tend to reduce gun deaths and poverty tends to increase risks, there are many exceptions. There is no apparent single cause or solution for gun violence. Assault weapons are very destructive, but handguns kill far more Americans.

Q: What is the leading cause of gun deaths in the United States?

A. Accidents

B. Criminal activity

C. Domestic violence

D. Suicides

D. By far, most firearm deaths in the United States are the result of suicides. That is one reason that families who own firearms are about twice as likely to die from gunfire than their unarmed neighbors. Mass shootings like the one in Maine grab much attention, but they account for a just small fraction of the more than 48,000 Americans killed by gunfire in a single year.