In recent years, Arkansas has enacted few meaningful gun safety laws. Instead it began allowing concealed carry at universities and polling places. In 2023, Arkansas had the seventh highest gun death rate among the states. In an average year, 658 people die from gun violence in the state. That means that someone dies from gun violence every 13 hours. Fifty-six percent of these deaths are gun suicides, and 40% are gun homicides. In Arkansas, the rate of gun deaths increased 32% from 2014 to 2023, compared to a 33% increase nationwide.