Tag Archives: Massachusetts

Same-Sex Marriage by State

state policies on same sex marriage 2013The Supreme Court stroke down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on June 26th, 2013 ruling in favor of recognition of same-sex marriage by the federal government in states where it is already legal.

To date, 12 states have already legalized same-sex marriage: Massachusetts (first state to do so in 2003), Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, Maine, and Iowa. The District of Columbia also legalized gay marriage. Additionally, 8 states have certain legal provisions and civil unions for gay couples: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

Several states are still against same-sex marriage, and 29 of them amended their constitutions to ban it.

For the interactive map, please visit: Pew Research Center: Same-Sex Marriage State-by-State

 

Gun-Related Deaths vs. Gun Ownership in the U.S.

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According to data from The Violence and Policy Center, the death rate by firearms in the U.S. is 10.19 per 100,000 people. Data from Gallup puts gun ownership at 34% nationwide. States with higher percentage of gun ownership also show a high number of deaths by firearms. Louisiana ranks 1 in number of deaths by firearms at 18.03 per 100,000, and 13 in gun ownership at 45.6%. Wyoming ranks 2 in number of deaths by firearms at 17.64 per 100,000, and 2 in gun ownership at 62.8%. These states are followed by Montana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nevada, Tennessee and Alaska. In comparison, Massachusetts ranks 50 in number of deaths by firearms at 3.14 per 100,000 (lowest of all fifty states), and 48 in gun ownership at 12.8%. Hawaii fares well, ranking 49 in number of deaths by firearms, and 50 in gun ownership at 9.7% (the lowest of all fifty states).

See interactive map at: Aljazeera.com – Interactive: US, Yemen lead the world in guns