Partial Information

A school child doesn’t have to be in school to be killed.

Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens. This is a uniquely American problem. Compared to other high-income countries, US children aged 5 to 14 are 21 times more likely to be killed with guns, and adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 are 23 times more likely to be killed with guns.

When US children and teens are killed with guns, 65 percent are homicides—nearly 1,300 deaths per year.

Children are particularly impacted by the intersection of domestic violence and gun violence. For children under age 13 who are victims of gun homicides, 85 percent of those deaths occur in the home, and nearly a third of those deaths are connected to intimate partner or family violence. Nearly two in three child and teen victims of mass shootings died in incidents connected to domestic violence. Data drawn from 16 states indicate that nearly two-thirds of child fatalities involving domestic violence were caused by guns.

And those are just the gun deaths.

Depressingly,

Another 29 percent of child and teen gun deaths are suicides—nearly 1,300 per year. And firearm suicide has been rising dramatically: Over the past decade, the firearm suicide rate among children and teens has increased by 21 percent.

Again, these are only the gun-involved suicides.

The Impact of Gun Violence on Children and Teens