CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In Louisiana, nearly half of homes possess firearms -- and Louisiana has America's worst gun death rate, almost 20 per 100,000 population per year.
In Hawaii, fewer than 10 percent of homes have guns -- and the shooting fatality rate is only 2.8 per 100,000 per year.
"The equation is simple: More guns lead to more gun deaths," says Kristen Rand of the national Violence Policy Center, which ranks states according to gun killings.
Incidentally, West Virginia is 10th-worst in the shooting gallery, with nearly 15 deaths per 100,000, the center says -- far above the U.S. average of 10.3. The most dangerous states are Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska, Alabama, Nevada, Arkansas, Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona and West Virginia.
Around the world, most societies have tough limits on gun carrying -- and people are much safer. Massacres such as the one in rural England this month are extremely rare. But America shamefully leads the advanced world in gun murders.
The National Center for Health Statistics says America had 29,569 gun deaths in 2004 -- 11,935 murders, 16,750 suicides, 649 accidents and 235 of unknown cause. In contrast, several European countries average fewer than 100 gun murders per year.
"Gun violence places a tremendous burden on America's health-care system," the Violence Policy Center says. "Direct medical costs for gunshot wounds total more than $6 million a day. Nonfatal gunshot wounds are the leading cause of uninsured hospital stays in the United States, with an estimated half of such costs borne directly by the public."
In rural regions like West Virginia, gun loving stirs fervor almost like a religion. Few smart politicians advocate pistol controls, or they'd risk defeat at the polls. So the Mountain State probably will remain among the worst states for gun killings.
In an editorial titled "More guns mean more gun violence," the Daily News Tribune of Waltham, Mass., commented last week:
"In some states, gun owners and ideologues have convinced themselves that everyone would be safer if more people were packing heat. They are making concerted efforts to repeal laws against openly carrying weapons in churches, bars and other public places, with some success."
However, the paper said "More guns and looser gun laws result in more people dying with bullets in their bodies." The daily death toll across America is a tragedy, inflicting terrible suffering on thousands of families.
Other advanced nations don't allow this nightmare. But it will continue in states like West Virginia, because politicians fear the almighty right-to-bear-arms lobby.