Gun deaths among US children, teens rose 50% in two years: Pew Research Center's 2023 finding

The number of US children and teens killed by gunfire rose 50 per cent in just two years, according to Pew Research Center’s 2023 analysis, citing  data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2019, there were 1,732 gun deaths among US children and teens under 18. By 2021, that figure had increased to 2,590.

The gun death rate among children and teens – a measure that adjusts for changes in the nation’s population – rose 46 per cent during that span.

Both the number and rate of children and teens killed by gunfire in 2021 were the highest since at least 1999, the earliest year for which this information is available in the CDC’s mortality database.

The surge in firearm-related fatalities among children and adolescents mirrors a broader recent uptick in overall gun deaths across the American population.

In 2021, the recorded gun deaths reached an unprecedented 48,830, marking a 23 per cent increase from the 2019 tally of 39,707, which predates the onset of the pandemic.

The comprehensive figure for gun deaths among children and teens in 2021 encompasses various categories such as homicides, suicides, accidents, and other instances where firearms are cited as the primary cause of death on official certificates. This statistic excludes deaths where firearms are noted as a contributing, but not the underlying, cause.

Homicide emerged as the predominant category for gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, constituting 60 per cent of the total for that year. Suicides followed at 32 per cent, with accidents accounting for 5 per cent. In contrast, suicides held the majority share of gun deaths among US adults in 2021, comprising 55 per cent.

In addition to tracking fatal incidents, the CDC provides estimates of nonfatal gun-related injuries sustained by children and teens. In the latest available data from 2020, over 11,000 emergency-room visits were attributed to gunshot injuries in individuals under the age of 18—a significantly higher figure compared to recent years.

However, it’s important to note that obtaining an exact count is challenging as the CDC’s estimate relies on a sample of US hospitals rather than a comprehensive dataset, introducing a substantial margin of error.

In the US, some groups of children and teens are far more likely than others to die by gunfire. Boys, for example, accounted for 83 per cent of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021. Girls accounted for 17 per cent.

Older children and teens are much more likely than younger kids to be killed in gun-related incidents. Those ages 12 to 17 accounted for 86 per cent  of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, while those 6 to 11 accounted for 7 per cent of the total, as did those 5 and under. Still, there were 179 gun deaths among children ages 6 to 11 and 184 among those 5 and under in 2021.

For all three age groups, homicide was the leading type of gun death in 2021. But suicides accounted for a significant share (36 per cent) of gun deaths among those ages 12 to 17, while accidents accounted for a sizable share (34 per cent) of gun deaths among those 5 and under.

With inputs from agencies