Final Responsible Solutions. Note: Alabama also got an F. But I reckon “F” stands for “freedom.” Here’s the text lingering below the antis’ post:
At this point, the scale of America’s gun violence epidemic should be a surprise to no one. 2016 brought the worst mass shooting in our country’s history, with 102 people shot at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Chicago reported its most murders—over 700—in 20 years. More than 20,000 people kill themselves with a gun every year, and over one million Americans have been victims of gun violence in the past decade.
Gun violence takes a number of different forms, and so do its solutions. No one policy will stop every shooting, but what we do know—because our research shows it, year after year—is that when taken in the aggregate, smart gun laws have a significant impact on public safety. They save lives.
The premise of the Law Center’s annual Gun Law State Scorecard is simple. Our legal experts evaluate every state’s gun laws, assign grades, and compare those grades with the state’s most recent gun death rate. Consistently, we see a powerful correlation: states with stronger laws have fewer gun deaths per capita while states with weaker laws have more gun deaths.
2016 brought increased public outcry over gun violence, as well as real progress at the state level, with a flurry of new gun laws passed, including ballot initiatives in three states. But, with 25 states scoring an F for their gun laws, clearly there is so much more work to be done. Use the map above to see how your state stacks up and learn about the steps your lawmakers can take to save lives in 2017.