More statistics about kids and guns

After taking a look at our own statistics, let's also look at others that are valid concerning kids and guns. This article highlights the number of very young children who are killed by gunshot wounds in the U.S. From the article:

The statisics are pretty horrific. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of children under the age of 5 who die from firearms is almost 12 times higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized countries combined. Children in the U.S. are 16 times more likely to be murdered with a gun, 11 times more likely to commit suicide with a gun, and nine times more likely to die in a gun accident than children in these other countries, the organization says.

(...) A RAND-UCLA study found that 61 percent of families who have both children and firearms in their home do not keep their firearms locked and unloaded, and ammunition in a separate location. Nine percent reported keeping their guns loaded and unlocked.

There are other sources for information about children and gun deaths and injuries. The Centers for Disease Controls (CDC) lists causes of death, violent death, etc. by age category. And the Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence also has some good statistics that concur with what we are posting on this site. From that site:

U. S. children ages 5 to 14 are killed with guns at a rate 11 times higher than the combined rates of 22 other populous, high income countries (Richardson, p. 1).

Twenty-two percent of U.S. teenagers (ages 14 to 17) report having witnessed a shooting (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, p. 6).

African-American children and teens are almost five times as likely as their white peers to be killed by firearms (11.30 per 100,000 African-American kids vs. 2.31 per 100,000 white kids) (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)).

Firearm homicide is the second-leading cause of death (after motor vehicle crashes) for young people ages 1-19 in the U.S. (NCIPC)

82 percent of youth firearm suicide victims used a firearm belonging to a family member, usually a parent (Harvard School of Public Health, 2002).

The unintentional firearm-related death rate for children 0-14 years old is 9 times higher in the U.S. than in the 25 other countries combined (CDC, p. 101)

As we continue writing about kids and shootings of and by children, we remind our readers that we can do more to protect the lives of our children.