Lazaro Aleman: Greene Publishing, Inc.
The latest analysis from the personal-finance website WalletHub finds that Florida is not overly dependent on the arms and ammunition industry in terms of jobs, political contributions or firearm ownership. Florida, in fact, falls below average when compared with the other 50 states and the District of Columbia.
In the ranking, the number one indicates the highest level of dependency on the industry, 51 indicates the lowest. Twenty-five is the average. Florida, with a total score of 36.30, ranked 36th overall, placing it well below the average. Alaska, with a total score of 80.02, ranked the most dependent, and Rhode Island, with a total score of 8.09, ranked the least dependent.
The report found Florida was 24th in the gun ownership; 40th in firearms-industry jobs per capita; 26th in average firearms-industry wages and benefits; 37th in total firearms-industry output per capita; 38th in total taxes paid by firearms industry per capita; 31st in National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks per capita; 30th in gun-control contributions to congressional members per capita; and 37th in gun-rights contributions to congressional members per capita.
Triggering the study was the noted decline in firearms sales since Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency. The report notes that while many consider the decline a positive development, it represents a negative for states whose economies rely heavily on firearm sales.
“By one estimate, guns contributed more than $51 billion to the nation’s coffers and generated nearly $7.4 billion in federal and state taxes in 2016,” the WalletHub report notes.
To make their determination, the analysts compared the economic impact of guns on each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia to learn which benefited the most from the gun business, both directly, in terms jobs and political contributions, and indirectly, through ownership.
The methodology consisted of comparing the 50 states and the district across three key dimensions, which were the firearms industry, gun prevalence and gun politics. The analysts then evaluated the three dimensions by 13 key metrics to reach their conclusions.