When it comes to gun sales, they are really low in New York. But, gun crime is high in certain areas. Somehow, the math isn't mathing.

Guns Sales Rise As Fear That Obama Will Change Gun Laws Persists
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A recent study examined firearm sales in each of the 50 states in America. New York, especially being one of the most populated states, ranks really low for gun sales. 247WallSt.com released a special report "States Buying the Most Guns So Far This Year." According to the site, approximately 8.1 million firearm background checks were conducted in the first three months of this year.


 

Firearm background checks are often used to approximate the level of gun sales in the United States. (These are the companies selling the most guns, according to an online gun broker.)
However, there are a number of reasons to initiate a background check that are clearly not tied to gun sales, including rentals and pawn shop transactions.
After controlling for some of these non-purchase causes, there were 5.3 million background checks that are likely tied to the purchase of a firearm through the end of March, or 15.9 checks per 1,000 Americans.


 

Before we get to New York, let's take a look at the state with the most gun purchases so far this year.

#1 Oregon

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> Firearm background checks per 1,000 residents, Jan-Mar 2023: 37.0
> Firearm background checks, Jan-Mar 2023: 156,735 — 12th most
> Most common type of firearm check: Handguns
> 2022 Population: 4,240,137 — 24th smallest

The other 4 states in the top 5 states buying guns are:

2. Alabama
3. Idaho
4. Tennessee
5. Wisconsin

When it comes to New York, we are on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Guns Sales Rise As Fear That Obama Will Change Gun Laws Persists
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49. New York

> Firearm background checks per 1,000 residents, Jan-Mar 2023: 4.7
> Firearm background checks, Jan-Mar 2023: 91,935 — 22nd most
> Most common type of firearm check: Long guns
> 2022 Population: 19,677,151 — 4th largest

The other 4 states in the bottom 5 states buying guns are:

50. Hawaii
48. New Jersey
47. Rhode Island
46. California

At the other end of the list are states in the Northeast and on the West Coast, including New Jersey, New York, California, and Hawaii – four of the five states with the nation’s strictest gun control laws.

 

You can check out the full list here

Overall, gun deaths in New York are low compared to many other states. According to the Centers For Disease Control, New York's death rate due to firearms was 5.3 in 2020. There were 1,052 deaths. The state with the highest firearm mortality rate was Mississippi with 28.6. The data doesn't differentiate between homicides, suicides, or accidents.

Even though legal gun purchases and gun fatalities are low in New York compared to other states, there are quite a few regions where gun violence is concentrated. According to the Center for American Progress,

Guns are diverted into illegal gun markets in three common ways: straw purchases; secondary sales through private sellers; and theft from individual gun owners or firearm dealers.

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