Yearly Gun Deaths Are Up In Rhode Island

By Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. Providence

August 10, 2022

The recent mass shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, highlight the threat gun violence poses to public safety in the United States. And according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the problem is getting worse.

A total of 45,222 people were killed by a firearm in the United States in 2020, the most recent year of available data – up from about 40,000 in 2019, and a 25% increase from 2015. Only three states – Hawaii, New Jersey, and Alaska – reported a decline in deaths resulting from a firearm injury between 2015 and 2020.

In Rhode Island, firearm deaths have climbed by 5.9% from 2015 to 2020 – the 46th largest increase among states. According to the CDC, a total of 54 people died from a firearm injury in the state in 2020, up from 51 in 2015.

The current firearm mortality rate in Rhode Island, meanwhile, ranks as the fourth lowest among states, at 5.1 deaths for every 100,000 people.

Gun sales in the state, measured using FBI firearm background check data as a proxy, also increased over the same period. There were an estimated 51,369 gun sales in Rhode Island in 2020, up from 22,129 in 2015. The 132.1% increase in sales was the fourth largest among states.

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This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St., a news organization that produces real-time business commentary and data-driven reporting for state and local markets across the country.