New study shows the effects of guns on American children

A new study conducted by researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) and published in the journal 'Pediatrics' shows the impact that guns have on Children across America every year. The study painted a grim picture of how guns have an effect on homicide and suicide, especially for teenagers.

What did the study find about kids and guns?

The study found that nationwide nearly 5,790 children survive gunshot wounds, while tragically 1,300 die in shooting from handguns, rifles and shotguns.

This total means that gunshot wounds are the third leading cause of death nationwide for children aged between 1 to 17. It was also revealed that, in a day, around 19 kids have to have emergency medical treatment or die each day because of a gunshot wound in the United States. Guns also made up more than 10% of deaths among children aged 17 or younger in 2014 and 2015.

Homicide, suicide, race and sex

Of the 1,300 children who die from shooting, it was found that 53% of these deaths were homicides, 38% were suicides and the remaining 6% were due to accidental shooting. The majority of homicides were found to be from African-American boys aged between 13 and 17.

The firearm mortality rate among African-American children was found to be 10 times higher than it was among White or Asian-American kids.

In contrast, the majority of suicides were found to be White or Native American boys aged between 13 and 17. Rates of suicide by firearm among kids is found to have grown appreciably since 2007, increasing by 60 %. It was found that in about 33% of suicides, the child was suffering from depression. In around 25% of cases the child had been clinically diagnosed by a medically professional that they had a mental health problem. Finally, 26% of children told another person in advance of their intent to kill themselves.

How the data was collected

The researchers at the CDC compiled data from three national databases that track information on gun deaths and injuries.

These databases traced details on death certificates related to gun violence, coroner records and medical examiner records. It also had details on law enforcement reports and reports from hospital emergency rooms on non-lethal firearm injuries. They also got data on homicides, assaults, suicides and accidental injuries caused by guns. Later, the age, ethnicity, race, sex and the year of death were looked at.