Gun Study

The Hill:

States with stricter gun laws and lower rates of gun ownership in general saw a lower rate of mass shootings between 1998 and 2015 than did other jurisdictions where gun laws were more relaxed, according to a new study.

A study published in The BMJ found a significantly higher rate of mass shootings and other gun crimes in states that had higher rates of gun ownership among the population.

"States with more permissive gun laws and greater gun ownership had higher rates of mass shootings, and a growing divide appears to be emerging between restrictive and permissive states," the study concluded.

"A 10% increase in state gun ownership [in a state] was associated with a significant 35.1% higher rate of mass shootings," the study said.

The study's co-author told Newsweek in an interview that researchers were surprised to see such a clear divide between states with less- and more-restrictive gun laws.