By Valerie Bauman Social Affairs Reporter For Dailymail.com
Published: 18:56 GMT, 7 March 2019 | Updated: 06:01 GMT, 8 March 2019
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Mass shootings have been on the rise in America in recent decades – and they are more prevalent in states with relaxed gun laws, according to a new study.
Researchers at Columbia University also found that the disparity is growing: states with permissive firearm laws have an 11 percent higher mass shooting rate than states that have cracked down on gun ownership.
'Gun laws, or lack thereof, have real potential to influence mass shootings,' lead author Paul Reeping said. 'Our study brings out a key disparity and sets the stage for better data collection on mass shootings and figuring out which specific gun laws could be most impactful in reducing mass shootings.'
In addition, a 10 percent increase in gun ownership was associated with a more than 35 percent higher rate of mass shootings in those states, according to the study published this week in the British Medical Journal.
This map, by the British Medical Journal, illustrates the level of permissiveness of each state's gun laws, along with the number of mass shootings per one million residents. The blue shades represent states with strict gun laws, while the pinker states have looser restrictions
Massachusetts was found to have the most restrictive gun laws, while Vermont's policies were the most permissive.
Vermont and South Carolina had higher rates of mass shootings than anywhere else in the country - both states with permissive laws and high gun ownership rates.
Researchers defined mass shootings as incidences in which four or more people were killed by a firearm.
They noted that some states have introduced tougher gun laws, while others have loosened their policies. Overall, there was a shift in the U.S. toward easing restrictions on gun owners from 1998-2004 – a period during which there were 344 mass shooting incidents.
'The
