How are Americas children affected by guns and gun violence?
ANSWER In 193, the most recent year for which there are complete statistics, 5,751 children and youth died from firearms, the highest yearly total since child deaths have been reported. Approximately 34,000 adults died from firearms in the U.S. in the same year. Of the 5,751 child and youth gun deaths, 3,661 were homicides, 1,460 were suicides, and 526 were accidents. In addition, according to the Centers for Disease Control, a far greater number of children are injured each year by firearms – an estimated five times the number of reported firearm deaths of children. While gun violence is not a problem limited to one race or class – more than half (2,935) of the children killed in 1993 were Caucasian – it is especially severe among African-American teens. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among African-American males 15-19 years old, who are more than five times more likely than white males to be gun victims.
