Easing State Gun Laws Came With a 'Tradeoff'

After a landmark Supreme Court ruling loosened restrictions on gun ownership at the state and local level, a new study finds that states with more relaxed gun laws saw a sharp rise in firearm deaths among children and teens—while those with stricter laws did not. The research, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, covers the 13 years following the 2010 Supreme Court ruling, comparing states with varying levels of gun restrictions, reports the New York Times. States that made their laws more permissive saw a notable rise in deaths among people under 18, particularly through homicides and suicides. In contrast, fatalities remained level—or even declined—in states that maintained or tightened strict gun laws.

Nationally, about 23,000 minors died from gun injuries in the 13-year period after the ruling. That figure exceeds projections by roughly 7,400 deaths, with 6,000 occurring in states with the most permissive gun laws, according to the study. Lead author Dr. Jeremy Faust said he expected more accidental gun deaths among children, but most were homicides or suicides. Gun safety advocates argue the findings reinforce evidence for tighter gun regulations, pointing out that stronger laws are associated with lower youth death rates. California, Maryland, New York, and Rhode Island, all with strict gun laws, recorded significant declines in youth firearm deaths.

"States that made it easier to obtain and carry a firearm had a tradeoff for that, which was a higher rate of mortality in kids," Faust said, per ABC News. Black children had both the highest firearm death rates before 2010 and the largest increases after, but these rates were stable in strict-law states. An NRA spokesperson dismissed the study as "political propaganda." Nonetheless, the data showed that a wave of legal changes followed the Supreme Court's ruling, with some states introducing measures such as magazine capacity limits and red flag laws, while others made access to guns easier. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)