We’ve been over this ground before. “Gun friendly” isn’t about which state has the most guns per capita. It’s about which state most respects the Second Amendment’s mandate against government infringement on citizens’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. Washington, D.C.? As tennis legend John McEnroe famously declared to line judges, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! We also have to remove those states without permit-less (a.k.a., Constitutional) carry. Working from the list above, that leaves . . .
Alaska, Arkansas and Wyoming. And the winner is . . . not on the list.
For a true measure of “gun friendliness,” you need to add in other factors. As gunsandammo.com did back in May. [Note to Forbes: Google is your friend.] They rated states according to Right-to-Carry, Modern Sporting Rifles, NFA (National Firearms Act) approvals, Castle Doctrine and miscellaneous (e.g., purchase/registration requirements, percentage of gun ownership, shooting range protection statues).
And the winner is . . . not Washington, D.C. It ranked dead last in the G&A comparo. But yhou knew that. And G&A’s winner is . . . Arizona, which just beat out Alaska. And now a word from Forbes’ compiler Niall McCarthy on their one data point conclusion.
When it comes to gun ownership in the United States, nowhere comes close to the state of Wyoming. With 196 registered firearms for every 1,000 residents, it ranks as America’s most gun-friendly state by a considerable distance. Even though Wyoming is awash with guns, one for every five residents, its violent crime rate is relatively low compared to other states. Nevertheless, a high rate of gun suicide is still cause for serious concern.
In fact, Wyoming has the highest suicide rate in the U.S.: 23.2 per 100k. Do I have to say it? Correlation does not equal causation. And then there’s this . . .
Washington, D.C. comes second on the list of per capita gun ownership with 66 firearms per 1,000 residents. Arkansas rounds off the top three with 42. At the opposite end of the scale, Delaware , Rhode Island and New York have the least registered guns, with 4.2, 3.8 and 3.3 firearms per 1,000 residents respectively. Around 90 people are killed by guns every day in the United States, adding up to a grim total of 32,000 every year.
Oy vey. What does that “90 people a day” stat have to do with gun ownership rates? And these people aren’t “killed by guns.” They’re killed mostly by themselves (suicide) or by people using guns. All of which puts Forbes onto TTAG’s top ten list of anti-gun media outlets. Who else would you put on that list, and in what order?