via Honolulu Advertiser.  http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100604/NEWS01/6040357/Isle+gun+death+rate+lowest+in+U.S.

Isle   gun death rate lowest in U.S.  States with highest gun ownership   also have most firearm deaths

By David Waite
Advertiser   Staff Writer

Hawai'i has the lowest gun death rate in the country, according to figures released this week by the Washington-based Violence Policy Center.

The center, which defines itself as "a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury," cites just-released data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control for the year 2007 — the most recent available — in drawing conclusions about gun death rates across the country.

Hawai'i's gun death rate in 2007 was 2.82 per 100,000 residents, center officials said. The next lowest gun death rate, 3.51, was in Rhode Island, followed by 3.63 in Massachusetts.

Louisiana had the nation's highest gun death rate, at 19.87, followed by Mississippi at 18.32 and Alabama at 17.62, according to the center.

The study also listed household gun ownership by percentage, with 9.7 percent of the homes in Hawai'i having one or more guns in the household — the lowest percentage in the country.

States such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama had the nation's highest gun ownership rates, at between 46 and 57 percent, and also had the highest gun death rates, the study found.

"The equation is simple: More guns lead to more gun death, but limiting exposure to firearms saves lives," Kristen Rand, the center's legislative director, said in a news release.

According to the Violence Policy Center's figures, the national gun death rate was 10.34 per 100,000 people in 2007.

"Each of the top-ranking states has lax gun laws and higher gun ownership rates. By contrast, states with strong gun laws and low rates of gun ownership had far lower rates of firearm-related death," the center's news release said.

Hawai'i's firearm ownership laws are among the most stringent in the country. Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha said that among other things, Hawai'i gun law requires a person to obtain a permit, issued by the chief of police, before he or she is allowed to buy a gun. The permitting process includes a background check and a 14-day waiting period.

"The Islands' low gun death rate should also be attributed to the people of Hawai'i who exemplify the aloha spirit not only in times of emergencies and disasters but throughout the year," Kealoha said.

He said HPD is proactive in seeking new gun legislation such as supporting a bill which would raise penalties for those who use airsoft replica pellet guns in terroristic threatening or robbery cases.

According to the Violence Policy Center, states with weak gun laws are those that "add little or nothing to federal restrictions and have permissive laws governing the open or concealed carrying of firearms in public.

"States with strong gun laws were defined as those that add significant state regulation in addition to federal law, such as restricting access to particularly hazardous types of firearms — for example, assault weapons, setting minimum safety standards for firearms and/or requiring a permit to purchase a firearm, and restrictive laws governing the open and concealed carrying of firearms in public," the center said in its report.

Dan Galanis, an epidemiologist with the Hawaii Department of Health's Injury Prevention and Control Program said Hawai'i has had the lowest firearm-related fatality rate of all 50 states during the five-year period of 2003-2007.

Galanis said Hawai'i's average gun death rate was 2.8 deaths per 100,000 residents during that period. The next-lowest state was Massachusetts, at 3.4 per 100,000 residents. The highest rates were Louisiana at 19.5 and Alaska, with 17.5, Galanis said.

Data in Hawai'i's death certificate database shows there were 180 firearms-related deaths from 2005 through 2009.

Galanis said the data shows an increasing trend in the annual number, from 28 in 2005 to 43 in 2009. Most of the 180 gun deaths — 131, or 73 percent — were deemed to be suicides, while 41 of them were homicides There were also two unintentional, or "accidental," shootings over the five-year period, Galanis said.

And, while gun-related suicides comprise the majority of firearm deaths in Hawai'i, they represent only 20 percent of the total number of suicides among Hawai'i residents. Hanging/suffocation was the most common means of suicide in Hawai'i, at 45 percent of the total. For the U.S. as a whole, 52 percent of suicides are committed by firearms, Galanis said.

Of the 127 homicides over the five-year period, 41, or 32 percent, involved the use of firearms, he said.

Most of the other homicides in Hawaii during 2005 through 2009 were the result of stabbings, at 31 percent, or beatings, 25 percent.

Firearms were used in about 68 percent of the homicides committed in the country as a whole, during that period, Galanis said.

Last year in Hawai'i, firearms were used in 10 homicides, 32 suicides and in one case in which a person was fatally shot by a police officer.

(sorry format didn't transfer over)

Thanks for the post. I updated the formatting for you.

I'm a little wary about the new Chief's statement about HPD proactively seeking new gun legislation. Although the legislation he states doesn't affect us, his next piece may. Oh, and the VPC is VERY anti-gun.

You know, I did some research on this not too long ago, maybe a little over a year.  Used data from the FBI and the CDC.  And, my friends, my results very dramatically from what they are reporting.  Hawaii was firmly in the middle of the pack in terms of overall firearms death, and in the lower third for murder rates.  I call BS on this article.  I'll be back next week to back up my claims.

Aren't this guys connected to the brady bunch?  This report doesn't explain anything like for example what are the factors involved leading to this deaths.  So, should we start limiting our time driving our cars since our state has one of the highest traffic accidents in the country?  When are these people going to have a common sense and stop blaming things on inanimate objects.

Why don't they talk about the people who never had a chance to defend their lives because they denied them the right to do so.

You know, I did some research on this not too long ago, maybe a little over a year.  Used data from the FBI and the CDC.  And, my friends, my results very dramatically from what they are reporting.  Hawaii was firmly in the middle of the pack in terms of overall firearms death, and in the lower third for murder rates.  I call BS on this article.  I'll be back next week to back up my claims.

Very interested in what you found out.

Aren't this guys connected to the brady bunch?  This report doesn't explain anything like for example what are the factors involved leading to this deaths.  So, should we start limiting our time driving our cars since our state has one of the highest traffic accidents in the country?  When are these people going to have a common sense and stop blaming things on inanimate objects.

Why don't they talk about the people who never had a chance to defend their lives because they denied them the right to do so.

They ARE the Brady Bunch.....

I called the NRA last week, and gave them the article info, staff writer name, etc.
 
This article is very misleading, as it tries to tie in strict gun restrictions result in "low death rates," which it conveniently doesn't define but leaves that to the readers imagination.
 
Is it saying strict gun laws results in "low death rates" is in low murder/death rates? Well, criminals, not law abiding citizens, are murdering. They then go on to compare our low ownership to death rate, to states with high ownership to high death rate, gleefully claiming high ownership equates to high death rates..."more guns equals more deaths." Well, maybe, maybe not...but we're talking about legally owned guns versus the availabiliy of illegal guns favored by criminals. NO WHERE would their conclusion of "more guns equals more deaths" hold up. They'd have to account for every other variable out there. Sorry, smoke n mirrors and just not true.
 
What I think we should keep in mind is NOT the low number of deaths, but the number of murders and other violent crimes that DON'T occur in Hawaii. I encourage everyone to read Lott's book "More Guns Less Crime." It's pretty dry, filled with statistics and charts. But if you can skip over these and read the way he ties in gun ownership, it's an easy read. Where there is high gun ownershp, especially where CCP is legal, there are low violent crime numbers. There is an increase in property crimes, though...attributed to a shift in illegal activities, criminals aren't that stupd and know if there's a chance you're carrying, they'd rather target your car in the mall parking lot or shoplift. 
 
My 2 cents? A combination of reasonable gun laws (not including our CCP situation) and the lack of a more organized criminal element...we're just too far away to be caught up in interstate trafficing problems.
 
Aloha, Frank
SgtCUSMC

          
 http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/prelimsem2009/Excels/09table4co-id.xls
 
Above is link to 2009 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics which includes Hawaii...most violent crime, except forcible rape, is down.....
 
 

   Firearm Registrations in Hawaii, 2009
             
 

•    April 7, 2010 - The Department of the Attorney General released its annual report detailing state firearm registration statistics for Calendar Year 2009.
  A record high total of 12,606 personal/private firearm permit applications were processed statewide during 2009, marking a major, 19.7% increase from the previous record high of 10,527 applications processed in 2008. Of the applications processed in 2009, 95.1% were approved and resulted in issued permits; 3.8% were approved but subsequently voided after the applicants failed to return for their permits within a specified time period; and 1.1% were rejected due to one or more disqualifying factors.
  The 11,992 permits issued statewide in 2009 cover a record high total of 33,678 firearms registered, outpacing by 29.6% the previous record high of 25,996 firearms registered in 2008. Just over half (16,897, or 50.2%) of the firearms registered during 2009 were imported from out-of-state, with the remainder (16,781, or 49.8%) accounted for by in-state transfers (i.e., firearms that were already in Hawaii).
  Firearm registration activity increased dramatically over the course of the decade for which these data have been systematically compiled and reported (see Figure 4).  From 2000 through 2009, the number of permit applications processed annually increased 94.3%, the number of firearms registered surged 147.3%, and the number of firearms imported rose 133.8%. [/l][/l]

     So, firearms registration is at an all time high (at least for the last decade) despite all the administrative barriers to ownership, AND the rate of violent crime continues to decline, including firearms related crime.......I second Tom's BS claim.........

I too was outraged when I read this artical.
News does not report all the facts. Many are biased. I wish they would give
the whole story. More gun may equal more gun deaths, but more guns also
equal less violent crime. Criminals will prey on the defenseless, so defend yourself.
That is what the second amendment is all about.