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by rayiner 317 days ago
The states with the most guns also have the highest percentage of households that own at least one gun: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map._Percent_of_hous.... In the Idaho to Dakotas region, more than half of households have a gun. But the same region has among the lowest homicide rates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_intenti...

Crime rates are reported per 100,000 people, so population isn’t the reason.

1 comments

Household ownership doesn't matter if the people who own them aren't likely to be involved in crimes - if a 50 year old farmer has a hunting rifle, their risk profile to society is really different than an angry 19 year old with a handgun.

While crime rates are per 100,000 people, population density makes a big difference because a low density, homogeneous population is going to have fewer interactions which turn negative. That's why people comparing crime stats usually compare cities or regions to avoid falsely reporting a correlation which is nothing more than a function of urban vs. rural density.