On March 14, 2008 CQPress released the latest edition of their publication that tracks the safest and most dangerous states in the country. The edition, Crime State Rankings 2008, has ranked Massachusetts only 22nd in the list of safest states. The rest of the New England states ranked as follows:

New Hampshire #1

Maine #2

Vermont #4

Connecticut #11

Rhode Island #12

Massachusetts #22

"How ironic is it that our neighboring states that our constantly blamed for the crime problems here in Massachusetts are actually safer places to live," said Jim Wallace Executive Director of GOAL. "Politicians and anti-civil rights groups are constantly telling the people that the crime here in the Commonwealth is caused by the so-called lax laws to the north. Yet here is still more evidence that those statements are simply not true. New Hampshire and Vermont don't have anything close to resembling the oppressive gun laws that are present in Massachusetts and yet it is safer by far to live there.

A brief outline of this report can be found at the following website.

The Safest and Most Dangerous State rankings are determined using rates for six crime categories—murder, rape, aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, and motor vehicle theft—by calculating a state’s position relative to the national average for each category. Crime categories are weighted equally, so that state comparisons are based purely on how states performed against the national average. The weighted, aggregate scores are totaled, and a state is assigned a final score. The farther below the national average a state’s crime rate is, the safer it ranks; the farther above the national average, the more dangerous.