Shamefully, gun deaths reflect only part of the devastating toll of America’s growing gun violence epidemic. Many more children and teens are injured than killed with guns each day in our nation.
For every child or teen fatally shot in 2017, another five suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds.
An estimated 18,227 children and teens were injured with guns in 2017—a six percent increase from 2016.
Black children and teens had the highest gun death rate in 2017 (11.2 per 100,000) followed by American Indian/Alaska Native children and teens (5.6 per 100,000).
Black children and teens were four times more likely to be killed or injured with a gun than their white peers.
Although Black children and teens made up only 14 percent of all American children and teens, they accounted for 41 percent of child and teen gun deaths.
Eighty-six percent of children and teens who died from gunfire in 2017 were boys. Boys were six times more likely than girls to die in gun homicides. Black boys were 17 times more likely to be killed in gun homicides than white boys.
84 percent of gun deaths and 91 percent of gun injuries among children and teens occurred among 15- to 19-year-olds. Infants and toddlers were not immune, however. Guns killed twice as many children under 5 as law enforcement officers in the line of duty.
No child is safe in a nation with easy access to deadly weapons. Guns lethalize hate, anger and despair—increasing the odds a senseless act of violence turns into an irreversible tragedy.
American civilians own 393 million firearms—more than one gun per person. In contrast, U.S. military and law enforcement agencies have 5.5 million.
Americans account for less than 5 percent of the global population, but own nearly half (46 percent) of all civilian guns in the world.
Guns make violence more deadly. The use of a gun in family or intimate assaults increased the risk of death 12 times. An estimated 41 percent of gun-related homicides and 94 percent of gun-related suicides would not occur if no guns were present.
Until we as a nation decide we value children’s lives more than guns, we will continue to bury too many of our loved ones before their time. We must urgently pass new common sense gun violence prevention measures and strengthen existing ones to ensure all children the chance to live, learn and play free from violence and fear. With a child or teen killed or injured every 24 minutes, we don’t have another moment or life to waste.
https://www.childrensdefense.org/policy/resources/soac-2020-gun-violence/