Gun Injuries, Deaths And Ownership In Minnesota, In Five Charts

By Rilyn Eischens, Minnesota Reformer

May 13, 2021

Minnesota had the country’s 13th-lowest rate of hospitalization for firearm injuries from 2000 to 2016, according to a new report from research organization RAND Corporation.

The report provides a first-of-its-kind estimate of inpatient hospitalizations for firearm injuries for all 50 states. Previously, there had been no single source of national data about gun injuries, which made it difficult for experts to track gun violence trends, according to RAND.

Other data from as recently as 2019 show Minnesota suffers fewer gun deaths than most states. Although gun ownership has been on a steady decline since 1980, the number of gun permits issued to Minnesotans spiked in 2020.

There’s limited research about why gun injury and fatality rates vary across the United States, but studies suggest that increased levels of gun ownership are linked with increased gun homicides and suicides, as well as unintentional injuries. Stricter gun regulations are also tied to lower firearm fatality rates, studies show.

Here’s more on firearm injuries, deaths and ownership in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..