States with More Gun Laws have fewer Deaths

Funny, information like this doesn't get any play at all:

Study: States With More Gun Laws Have Fewer Gun Deaths

States that have more gun laws have fewer gun-related deaths, according to a new study by Boston Children’s Hospital. The study, released Wednesday, also found that background checks and permit requirements are associated with decreased homicide rates, and that states with the most gun laws have lower mortality rates. Researchers hope the results will encourage leaders to pass gun reform across the U.S.

"Our research gives clear evidence that laws have a role in preventing firearms deaths," said the study’s lead investigator Eric Fleegler, a pediatric emergency doctor at Boston Children's Hospital. "Legislators should take that into consideration."

States with the most gun laws had a mortality rate 42 percent lower than states with the fewest laws.

States with stringent laws had firearm-related homicide rates 40 percent lower as well as firearm-related suicide rates 37 percent lower.

Despite showing these correlations, the study did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between guns and deaths. One critic says that greatly limits the usefulness of the research. Seeing as the study didn't show correlation, there could easily be some extraneous factor not being accounted for, and increasing gun laws in a state may not result in lower mortality rates or fewer gun deaths.
Research into gun laws and violence stopped about 15 years ago. That missing data might have helped establish cause and effect. Source: USA Today