CLAIM:
Everytown compared gun policy across the country, scoring every state on the strength of its gun laws and comparing it with its rate of gun violence. In states where elected officials have taken action to pass gun safety laws, fewer people die by gun violence. Choose a state to see how it stacks up on 50 key policies, or explore a policy to see how much of the country has adopted it.
National Leaders
#1 California Gun Law Strength:90.5 Gun Violence Rate:8
#2 Massachusetts Gun Law Strength:86.5 Gun Violence Rate:3.7
#3 Illinois Gun Law Strength:85.5 Gun Violence Rate:13.5
#4 New York Gun Law Strength:85 Gun Violence Rate:4.7
#5 Connecticut Gun Law Strength:81.5 Gun Violence Rate:6.2
#6 New Jersey Gun Law Strength:80.5 Gun Violence Rate:4.6
#7 Hawaii Gun Law Strength:80 Gun Violence Rate:4.9
#8 Maryland Gun Law Strength:78.5 Gun Violence Rate:12.3
#9 Washington Gun Law Strength:71.5 Gun Violence Rate:13
Making Progress
#10 Colorado Gun Law Strength:67.5 Gun Violence Rate:16.6
#11 Delaware Gun Law Strength:65 Gun Violence Rate:12
#12 Oregon Gun Law Strength:65 Gun Violence Rate:14.2
#13 Rhode Island Gun Law Strength:60.5 Gun Violence Rate:4.8
#14 Minnesota Gun Law Strength:53.5 Gun Violence Rate:8.9
#15 Virginia Gun Law Strength:49 Gun Violence Rate:13.8
#16 New Mexico Gun Law Strength:42 Gun Violence Rate:25.3
#17 Vermont Gun Law Strength:41 Gun Violence Rate:12
#18 Pennsylvania Gun Law Strength:39.5 Gun Violence Rate:13.6
#19 Nevada Gun Law Strength:37 Gun Violence Rate:18.4
#20 Michigan Gun Law Strength:37 Gun Violence Rate:13.9
Missing Key Laws
#21 Florida Gun Law Strength:28 Gun Violence Rate:13.7
#22 Maine Gun Law Strength:27 Gun Violence Rate:14
#23 Wisconsin Gun Law Strength:27 Gun Violence Rate:12.7
#24 North Carolina Gun Law Strength:24.5 Gun Violence Rate:16.4
#25 Nebraska Gun Law Strength:23.5 Gun Violence Rate:10.6
Weak Systems
#26 West Virginia Gun Law Strength:18.5 Gun Violence Rate:16.8
#27 Indiana Gun Law Strength:18 Gun Violence Rate:18.3
#28 Iowa Gun Law Strength:15 Gun Violence Rate:10.5
#29 Tennessee Gun Law Strength:14 Gun Violence Rate:22
#30 Ohio Gun Law Strength:14 Gun Violence Rate:15
#31 South Carolina Gun Law Strength:14 Gun Violence Rate:19.1
#32 Texas Gun Law Strength:13.5 Gun Violence Rate:14.9
#33 Louisiana Gun Law Strength:12.5 Gun Violence Rate:28.3
#34 Alabama Gun Law Strength:12 Gun Violence Rate:25.6
#35 North Dakota Gun Law Strength:11.5 Gun Violence Rate:12.8
#36 Utah Gun Law Strength:11 Gun Violence Rate:14.8
National Failures
#37 Kansas Gun Law Strength:9.5 Gun Violence Rate:16.3
#38 New Hampshire Gun Law Strength:9.5 Gun Violence Rate:9.6
#39 Kentucky Gun Law Strength:9 Gun Violence Rate:18.4
#40 Alaska Gun Law Strength:9 Gun Violence Rate:23.5
#41 Missouri Gun Law Strength:8 Gun Violence Rate:21.4
#42 Oklahoma Gun Law Strength:7.5 Gun Violence Rate:19.9
#43 Arizona Gun Law Strength:7.5 Gun Violence Rate:18.5
#44 Wyoming Gun Law Strength:6.5 Gun Violence Rate:21.5
#45 South Dakota Gun Law Strength:5.5 Gun Violence Rate:12.3
#46 Georgia Gun Law Strength:5 Gun Violence Rate:18.6
#47 Montana Gun Law Strength:5 Gun Violence Rate:21.5
#48 Arkansas Gun Law Strength:4.5 Gun Violence Rate:21.9
#49 Mississippi Gun Law Strength:4 Gun Violence Rate:29.4
#50 Idaho Gun Law Strength:3.5 Gun Violence Rate:17.9
Even the strongest system can’t protect a state from its neighbors’ weak laws
High gun ownership rates also play a role in strong states where deaths are higher
Federal laws help prevent gun violence nationwide
REBUTTAL:
Everytown for Gun Safety claims that states with stricter gun laws have lower rates of gun violence, using their own ranking system as evidence. However, their methodology is flawed, their conclusions are selective, and their comparisons ignore key factors that contribute to violence. Below is a detailed analysis exposing the problems with their argument and data.
1. Everytown’s Rankings Are Arbitrary and Biased
🔹 The “Gun Law Strength” score is not an objective measure.
- Everytown creates its own rating system, assigning higher scores to laws that align with its policy agenda, rather than using neutral, empirical crime data.
- States with policies Everytown dislikes (such as permitless carry) automatically receive low scores, even if they have low crime rates.
🔹 The rankings cherry-pick gun deaths but ignore overall crime.
- The violent crime rate is a far better metric for public safety than gun deaths alone.
- States with high “gun law strength” often have higher violent crime rates overall, meaning their strict laws aren’t necessarily making them safer.
🔹 High-scoring states still have serious gun crime issues.
- Illinois (ranked #3) and Maryland (#8) both have cities among the most dangerous in the country.
- Chicago and Baltimore have extreme levels of gun violence despite strict laws.
- Everytown admits this problem but blames it on “neighboring states” rather than acknowledging that criminals don’t follow gun laws.
If stricter gun laws directly reduced crime, we would expect Illinois, Maryland, and California to be among the safest states. Instead, they have some of the highest urban gun violence rates in the country.
2. The Report Misrepresents Gun Deaths by Ignoring Context
🔹 Suicides vs. Homicides: A Misleading Combination
- Over 60% of gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides, yet Everytown lumps them together with homicides to inflate gun death numbers.
- High-suicide states like Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska are punished in Everytown’s rankings, even though their firearm homicide rates are relatively low.
- If gun availability alone caused suicide, Switzerland and Finland (high gun ownership countries) would have far higher suicide rates—but they don’t.
🔹 Gang Violence and Urban Crime Are the Primary Drivers of Gun Homicides
- Over 80% of gun homicides in the U.S. occur in urban areas, often linked to gang activity and the drug trade.
- Cities with the strictest gun laws (Chicago, Baltimore, St. Louis) remain among the most violent.
- Instead of acknowledging this, Everytown blames gun trafficking from states with looser laws.
🔹 Comparing Statewide Data Obscures Localized Crime
- Gun deaths are highly concentrated in specific cities, but Everytown’s state-by-state comparison hides these trends.
- For example, Louisiana ranks low because of New Orleans, but much of the state is rural and has low crime.
- California looks better because rural areas bring down its crime average, but cities like Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco have serious crime issues.
3. The “Iron Pipeline” Argument is a Weak Excuse
🔹 Blaming Neighboring States for Crime Ignores the Real Problem
- Everytown admits that places like Illinois and Maryland have high gun violence, but instead of questioning their strict laws, they blame other states.
- This claim assumes criminals legally buy guns in other states and transport them, but in reality, most guns used in crimes are stolen or obtained illegally.
- A 2019 DOJ report found that over 90% of criminals obtain guns illegally—meaning stricter background checks and regulations wouldn’t stop them.
🔹 If gun laws alone determined crime rates, neighboring states would have similar crime rates—but they don’t.
- Vermont and New Hampshire (both low-ranked by Everytown) have loose gun laws but also some of the lowest crime rates.
- If gun availability led to higher crime, these states should be among the most dangerous—but they are not.
4. Gun Ownership Does Not Correlate With Violent Crime
🔹 States with high gun ownership often have low crime rates.
- Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho all have high firearm ownership rates but relatively low violent crime rates.
- If gun availability caused violence, these states should be the most dangerous—but they are not.
🔹 Everytown’s Report Ignores Defensive Gun Use
- Guns are used defensively between 500,000 and 3 million times per year, according to studies from the CDC and other sources.
- Strict gun laws often make it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves, leaving them vulnerable to crime.
5. The Report Overstates the Impact of Gun Laws on Crime Reduction
🔹 Strong laws do not always mean low crime rates.
- Washington, D.C. has some of the strictest gun laws in the country—yet it consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous places in the U.S.
- New York, Maryland, and California have some of the strictest laws but high crime in their major cities.
- Conversely, states with moderate or low gun control (like Utah, Vermont, and New Hampshire) have much lower violent crime rates.
🔹 Correlation Does Not Equal Causation
- Just because states with strict laws have lower gun death rates does not mean the laws caused the decrease.
- Other factors, like demographics, policing policies, poverty levels, and urban density, play a much larger role in crime rates.
6. The Report Promotes Gun Control Policies That Do Not Reduce Crime
🔹 Universal Background Checks:
- Criminals don’t buy guns legally, so expanding background checks has little impact.
- Even the DOJ acknowledges that most guns used in crimes are obtained illegally.
🔹 Bans on So-Called “Assault Weapons”
- Rifles account for less than 3% of homicides.
- Handguns—not AR-15s—are overwhelmingly used in crime.
- Banning semi-automatic rifles would have almost no effect on overall crime.
🔹 Magazine Capacity Limits
- Criminals can reload quickly.
- There is no evidence that magazine limits reduce crime.
- The 2019 Dayton shooter used a rifle with a 100-round magazine, yet was stopped within seconds by police—demonstrating that response time, not magazine limits, determines the outcome of mass shootings.
🔹 “Stand Your Ground” Laws Do Not Increase Violence
- Everytown opposes Stand Your Ground laws, claiming they promote violence.
- In reality, Stand Your Ground laws benefit victims of crime, ensuring they do not have to retreat from an attacker before defending themselves.
- Data shows these laws do not increase homicide rates—and in many cases, they prevent victims from being charged for legitimate self-defense.
7. The Real Solutions to Gun Crime
Instead of pushing ineffective gun control, states should focus on real crime prevention strategies:
✅ Target Criminals, Not Law-Abiding Citizens
- Tougher penalties for illegal gun possession and violent offenders reduce crime.
- New York’s failed bail reform policies allowed repeat offenders to commit more violent crimes.
✅ Improve Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Efforts
- Since suicide makes up 60% of gun deaths, better mental health care would save more lives than gun bans.
✅ More Effective Policing Strategies
- Broken windows policing, gang intervention programs, and stronger prosecution of violent offenders work far better than banning gun ownership.
Conclusion: Everytown’s Report Is Misleading and Based on Political Agenda
Everytown’s gun law rankings are arbitrary, misleading, and fail to explain actual crime trends. The real causes of gun violence—gang activity, urban crime, and mental health crises—are ignored in favor of pushing ineffective gun control laws.
Final Verdict:
🚨 Gun laws do not directly correlate with crime rates.
🚨 High-ranked states like Illinois and Maryland still have serious gun violence problems.
🚨 Everytown’s rankings are biased and designed to push a political agenda, not real solutions.