Hawaii has the lowest rate of gun-related deaths in the nation, according to a study by the Violence Policy Center.

The study was based on just-released 2006 national data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The five states with the highest per-capita gun death rates were Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi and Nevada.

Each of these states had a per-capita gun death rate far exceeding the national per-capita gun death rate of 10.32 per 100,000 for 2006.

Each state has lax gun laws and higher gun ownership rates. By contrast, states with strong gun laws and low rates of gun ownership had far lower rates of firearm-related death.

Ranking last in the nation for gun deaths was Hawaii, followed by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.

The study found 9.7 percent of Hawaii households owned a gun. Its gun-related death rate was 2.58 per 100,000 residents.

In Louisiana, 45.6 percent of households own a gun and the death rate was 19.58 per 100,000 residents.

The VPC defined states with "weak" gun laws as those that add little or nothing to federal restrictions and have permissive concealed carry laws allowing civilians to carry concealed handguns.

States with "strong" gun laws were defined as those that add significant state regulation in addition to federal law, such as restricting access to particularly hazardous types of firearms (for example, assault weapons), setting minimum safety standards for firearms and/or requiring a permit to purchase a firearm, and have restrictive concealed carry laws.

The study is online at:

www.vpc.org/press/0905gundeath.htm