Mississippi’s firearm death rate has skyrocketed to double that of Haiti, a Caribbean nation grappling with gang control and anarchy for over three years.
According to a report from the Washington Post on Thursday, the Commonwealth Fund, a health policy research foundation, recently published a study comparing firearm mortality rates across U.S. states and various countries. In 2022, Mississippi recorded a firearm death rate of 28.5 per 100,000 people. In contrast, Haiti’s firearm death rate in 2021 was 15.12 per 100,000. Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, Haiti has seen a collapse of governmental authority, leading to rampant gang violence and looting. Since Mississippi is often cited as the poorest state in the U.S., this statistic raises significant concerns and has been described as alarmingly high.
Alongside Mississippi, neighboring Louisiana (28.2 deaths per 100,000) and Alabama (24.7 deaths per 100,000) also exhibit troubling firearm death rates. Both states have rates exceeding that of Mexico (23.33 deaths per 100,000), where drug cartels have caused widespread fatalities. Additionally, firearm death rates in Montana (21.2) and Alaska (21.1) surpass those in Colombia (20.11), a country similarly affected by severe drug cartel violence. Overall, the firearm death rate in the United States stands at 13.5 per 100,000, which is higher than that of Iraq (9.14).
It’s important to note that the tally of firearm deaths in the United States includes not only fatalities from gun violence, such as mass shootings but also accidental discharges and suicides.