Gun roundup: Rural firearm death rates rose 88% in 2010-2020; a profile of 'good guys with guns' in rural Georgia . . .

Gun homicide rates per 100,000 residents
(Washington Post charts sourced from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data).

Gun death rates rose in urban, suburban and rural areas of the U.S. from 2010 to 2020, and much more in rural areas, the Post reports. The rural rate rose 88 percent; suburban and urban rates rose 67% and 58%, respectively. States with easier access to firearms tend to show steeper increases in gun deaths, the data show. Rural gun deaths are more likely to be due to suicide than homicide.

Stephanie McCrummen of The Washington Post has an interesting and nuanced profile of two cousins in rural Georgia, ages 23 and 18, who worry about gun violence, but believe a "good guy with a gun" can help in emergencies. Read it here.

Marshall County, in rural North Carolina, is stocking its schools with AR-15s to try to prevent a mass shooting, Joe Marusak reports for The Charlotte Observer. The sheriff said the caches will give deputies quick access to more high-powered firearms in such emergencies. County officials welcomed the notion, which county residents paid for with private donations. However, an education professor who has long studied school safety warns that the presence of the firearms increases the likelihood of accidents and violence.