Child Gun Deaths Total Near 1,300 A Year: Study

NEW YORK CITY, NY — Guns are the third-leading cause of death for Americans younger than 18, killing around 1,300 minors a year in the United States and injuring almost 6,000, according to a new study published this week in the journal Pediatrics.

The study examined data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Consumer Product Safety Commission between 2002 and 2014. Gun violence disproportionately affects boys, older children and racial minorities, the study shows.

According to the report, unintentional gun deaths and gun homicides have declined in recent years. However, the rate of minors committing suicide using guns has increased. (For more national stories, subscribe to the Across America Patch and receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"Firearm injuries are an important public health problem, contributing substantially to premature death and disability of children," write the authors, led by Katherine Fowler, a researcher at the CDC. "Understanding their nature and impact is a first step toward prevention."

Most gun deaths of minors in recent years were homicides, with 53 percent of these deaths falling into this category. The other causes of gun-related deaths include:

• 38 percent — suicides
• 6 percent — unintentional deaths
• 3 percent — law enforcement/undetermined cause

"Boys disproportionately bear the burden of firearm mortality, accounting for 82% of all child firearm deaths," the authors write. "African American children have the highest rates of firearm mortality overall (4.1 per 100000), and this disparity is largely a function of differences between racial and ethnic groups in firearm homicide."

They continue: "In contrast with patterns of firearm homicide, white and American Indian children have the highest annual average rates of firearm suicide."

These figures paint a stark contrast between the United States and many other wealthy countries.

"International studies indicate that 91% of firearm deaths of children aged 0 to 14 years among all high income countries worldwide occur in the United States, making firearm injuries a serious pediatric and public health problem in the United States," the authors note.

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