A total of 4,130 miles separate Hawaii from Mississippi by air, but if you go by differences in gun culture, not air miles, the distance is measured in lives.

While both states have vocal membership in pro-gun groups such as the National Rifle Association, the chance of deaths per 100,000 total population from a firearm puts the Magnolia State at No. 1, while the Aloha State comes in at 50.

Looking at the data assembled by the World Population Review, the South should best be avoided if you worry about being shot and killed.

“The South is a high-risk area for firearm violence, with those along the Mississippi River consistently reporting some of the highest gun mortality rates,” according to the report, using data from the most recent year, 2020.

Making sense of the new flurry of mass shootings across the nation may be an impossible task, but it is not an immeasurable one. Thankfully, Hawaii with its strict gun laws and geographical separation from the rest of gun-toting America keep us a bit safer.

In 2020, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes gun murders (43%) and gun suicides (54%) with accidents and police shootings accounting for most of the others.

There is no national agreed-upon definition of what constitutes a mass shooting, so the recent tragedies cannot be easily tallied.

In Hawaii this year, people power, or more specifically the Hawaii chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, actively lobbied against a bill that was one of the major pieces of legislation supported by the National Rifle Association.

Labeled a “Shoot First” bill, supporters claimed current Hawaii law requires victims to allow the use of deadly force in cases of self- protection “without requiring the citizens to retreat, relinquish property, or comply with the demands of assailants before defending with deadly force.” The bill was killed in committee despite a flurry of pro-NRA testimony supporting it.

It is the sort of gun control issue that is still important in a state like Hawaii that supports gun control.

Windward Democratic state Sen. Chris Lee helped form the Gun Violence and Violent Crimes Commission, which meets annually to go over the issue of controlling gun violence. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday.

Lee says he plans to attend to tell the commission it should serve to lead the way with research and lobbying to increase Hawaii’s gun control measures.

“We definitely have some common-sense legislation that the state has taken to make sure guns do not fall in wrong hands, including mandatory background checks and red-flag laws to prohibit gun ownership,” Lee said in an interview.

Controlling the use and access to guns will be an ongoing American issue haunting all states, including Hawaii.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.