Strong gun laws, not religious morality, best protect our citizens
In response to Troy Schroeder’s Tuesday letter in which he argued that “morality, not weapons” explains our country’s exceptional number of gun murders:
In South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana more than 70 percent of the citizens are highly religious, saying that they pray daily and attend church at least once a week.
But contrary to what Mr. Schroeder’s assertions would lead us to expect, these highly religious states have some of the highest rates of gun murders in the nation, losing 15 to 19 people per 100,000 each year to firearm murder. The national average hovers around 10 gun murders per 100,000 people.
In Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Hawaii and Rhode Island, where fewer than 50 percent of people call themselves highly religious, fewer than six per 100,000 gun murders occur each year.
So what accounts for these less religious states’ far lower gun murder rate? These states have the strongest gun laws in our country. It is well-crafted gun regulation, not religious morality, that best protects citizens from gun murder.
