Speaking at a Republican election rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night, former President Donald Trump claimed that Democrat-run cities have the highest number of gun violence in the US. The rally was organized in support of the Republican candidates Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano. Mr. Trump was the star speaker at the rally and spoke for over 2 hours.
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“Last year, the city set an all-time murder record with 560 homicides and is on track to shatter that record again in 2022,” the 76-year-old Republican politician claimed. He went on to add that nobody has ever since such numbers except in some Democrat-run states.
How far are these claims true? Let’s find out.
Although the claim that Democrat-run states have a higher rate of gun violence has been a mainstay of the Republicans, the data suggests otherwise. According to an analysis by the RAND corporation, Republican states, such as Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Wyoming, Alaska, and Missouri ranked the sixth highest in per capita gun deaths.
Another research, compiled by the think-tank Third Way, showed that in 2020 the per capita murder rate in states where Donald Trump won was 40% higher.
Moreover, Democrat-ruled states like Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New Jersey had the lowest rate of gun deaths. To put it in perspective, these states also have stricter gun laws.
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Earlier this year in June 2022, media outlet Newsweek collaborated with Statista to analyze the political allegiance of states with high gun violence rates between 2010 to 2020. The report claims that out of the 20 states with the highest gun violence, 13 were Republican-ruled.
However, the state with the highest gun violence turned out to be Columbia, which is run by the Democrats.
A large portion of gun violence in the US comes from suicide attempts with guns. As a result, a clear correlation between gun violence and mental health can be drawn.
On the other hand, research has also found that gun violence numbers in rural America are similar to that in urban areas.