WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A large manhunt continues in Maine for the man accused of killing 18 people and injuring 13 others.
Robert Card is accused of taking a rifle to a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine Wednesday night. Shelter in place orders for nearby communities mean people stayed home from work and school Thursday while an ongoing multistate search was underway.
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) returned to Maine from Washington D.C. Thursday morning to help his home state. He said the mass shooting was unthinkable, and because he has spent so long in public service, it felt as though he lost family. The senator also made claims regarding gun statistics in Maine.
"Maine has one of the highest levels of gun ownership in the country and one of the lowest levels of gun crime in the country," he said. "Until last night."
QUESTION
Does Maine have one of the highest levels of gun ownership and one of the lowest levels of gun deaths among U.S. states?
SOURCES
ANSWER
Only one state can match Maine's combination of high gun ownership rate and low firearm death rate.
WHAT WE FOUND
Gun ownership in the United States is difficult to track. The federal government requires registration of certain firearms, and states may also choose to require or prohibit the registration of firearms. Many private gun sales do not require background checks, and some states have repealed laws mandating concealed carry permits or training. In combination, those factors make it very difficult to know with certainty how many Americans own guns.
The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization, analyzed firearm ownership in 2020 and created national and state-level estimates. It found that approximately 48% of adults in Maine live in households that own at least one gun; that ranks 16th among the 50 states.
The CDC tracks gun death rates by state. Its most recent data, from 2021, showed that Maine had a firearm death rate of 12.6 per 100,000 residents, which was that 14th-lowest rate among all states.
Only one state--Vermont--had both a higher percentage of gun ownership and a lower firearm death rate than Maine.
So we can verify that what Sen. King cited about gun ownership and gun violence statistics is true.