gun-graphic(MGNonline)

Louisiana ranks fifth in the nation in deaths related to guns.

A recently released report focusing on firearm deaths by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals the rate of gun deaths for every state in the country based on 2018 numbers, the latest figures available.

It revealed Louisiana has among the higher ratio of gun deaths to population, whether those occurred as the result of a homicide, suicide or accidental death.

The most recent numbers show that 991 people in Louisiana died from firearms at a rate of 21.27 per 100,000 residents.

The report ranks Louisiana behind Missouri and in front of Alaska for its gun death rates, while Mississippi and Alabama rank first and second.

A total of 76 children and teens died by firearm in Mississippi in 2018, 46 by homicide. That comes out to nine deaths for every 100,000 residents in the state, more than double the national average, according to an analysis of the CDC data by the nonprofit Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence.

In 2018, 39,740 Americans died by gun violence, a decrease of 33 deaths from 2017. While the total number of gun deaths was about on par from the year before, the country has seen an 18 percent rise in gun-related deaths since 2009. Likewise, the suicide rate increased in the same time frame by 17 percent, the study found.

The CDC report for 2018 aligns with previous numbers which show the southeast region of the country had the highest overall rate of gun deaths in any geographical region of the country.

Since 2005, firearm fatalities in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee have been almost twice as high as the national average.

Statistically, residents of these states are about twice as likely to die by firearm than other regions of the country, whether it’s an accidental shooting, suicide or homicide, according to the CDC.

No matter if you believe in strict gun control laws or looser ones, some sort of action needs to be taken. Because if nothing changes, nothing changes.