Indiana ranks 20th in the nation among the states for gun violence, according to a new report that says someone is killed with a gun in Indiana every 12 hours. Researchers with the Center for American Progress looked at ten different types of gun violence from 2005 to 2014, including suicides, homicides and mass shootings. Report co-author Chelsea Parsons says the states with the strictest gun laws had the lowest levels of violence.
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence has given Indiana a grade of “D-minus” for the strength of its gun laws. The Center for American Progress report gives Massachusetts the best score for gun laws that help to prevent gun violence, and Louisiana the worst score.
Parson notes researchers found that laws requiring background checks, trigger-lock rules and training requirements coincided with lower rates of gun violence, particularly in cases of domestic violence.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2005 to 2014, 167 people in Indiana lost their lives in gun-related accidents. Nearly three in ten were under age 21. And while African-Americans make up close to 10 percent of Indiana’s population, they account for 62-percent of gun-related homicide victims in the state.