ARE MORE CHILDREN DYING BY GUNFIRE THAN ANY OTHER CAUSE OF DEATH?
THE ANSWER — DEPENDS ON HOW YOU DEFINE “CHILDREN.”
BUT LOOKING AT HEADLINES ACROSS THE INTERNET –
YOU MIGHT BE MISSING THAT IMPORTANT CONTEXT – AND CLARITY.
WHEN YOU BREAK IT DOWN BY AGE GROUP –
YOU GET DIFFERENT RESULTS.
SO WE GATHERED STATISTICS FROM SEVERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FROM 2019 TO 2021 TO SHOW YOU WHAT THE GREATEST THREAT IS TO A CHILD’S LIFE TODAY –
DEPENDING ON HOW OLD THEY ARE.
FOR YEARS –
THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG CHILDREN AND TEENS AGES 19 AND YOUNGER WERE MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS.
BUT IN 2020 – THE YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC –
THAT CHANGED.
FOR THE FIRST TIME – FIREARM-RELATED INCIDENTS BECAME THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF AMERICA’S CHILDREN AND TEENS AGES 19 AND YOUNGER.
NEW DATA FROM THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS SHOWS 2021 WAS A REPEAT OF 2020.
A PIECE OF THE DATA THAT STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS NOTICED IMMEDIATELY –
WAS HOW DRASTICALLY THE NUMBERS SKEW UPWARD WHEN YOU GROUP IN OLDER TEENS INTO THIS STATISTIC.
IF YOU SEPARATE THE DEATHS OF 18 AND 19 YEAR OLDS, WHO ARE LEGALLY ADULTS.—
THEN GUNS —
ARE NOT KILLING MORE CHILDREN.
THIS GRAPHIC DEMONSTRATES HOW DRAMATICALLY THE MORTALITY RATE DROPS OFF.
18 AND 19 YEAR OLDS HAVE A FIREARM MORTALITY RATE OF 25.2 PER 100 THOUSAND.
CHILDREN 17 YEARS AND YOUNGER – HAVE A 3.7 PER 100 THOUSAND MORTALITY RATE.
WHEN YOU BREAK IT DOWN BY AGE GROUPS —
A CHILD IS MORE AT RISK OF DYING IN A CAR ACCIDENT THAN BY GUNFIRE UNTIL THEY BECOME OLDER TEENAGERS.
WE LOOKED AT DATA FROM THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS, AND THE CDC —
THE DATA SETS AVAILABLE ONLY ALLOWED US TO COMPARE 0 TO 3 YEAR OLDS WHO DIED IN CAR ACCIDENTS TO 0 TO 4 YEAR OLDS WHO DIED BY GUNFIRE.
EVEN WITH THE DATA ON 4 YEAR OLDS 4 YEAR OLD DATA MISSING IN FATAL CAR CRASHES –
AN INFANT OR TODDLER WAS STILL MORE THAN **TWICE AS LIKELY TO DIE IN A MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT THAN GUNFIRE FROM 2019 TO 2021.
WHEN YOU INCREASE THE AGE GROUP –
NOW COMPARING CHILDREN SEVEN YEARS OR YOUNGER WHO DIED IN CAR ACCIDENTS TO CHILDREN NINE AND YOUNGER WHO DIED BY GUNFIRE –
MORE CHILDREN DIED IN A CAR THAN IN GUNFIRE EVEN THOUGH THE AGE GROUP IS AGAIN SMALLER.
IN THE YEAR 20-19 – A YOUNG CHILD WAS THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO DIE IN AN ACCIDENT, AND IN 20-21, WAS MORE THAN TWICE AS LIKELY..
INCREASING THE AGE GROUP AGAIN –
NOW CHILDREN 14 YEARS AND YOUNGER ACROSS THE BOARD..
THE NUMBERS ARE TIGHTENING –
BUT STILL – THE NUMBER ONE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG CHILDREN UP TO 14 YEARS OLD – IS MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS – NOT FIRE-ARM RELATED INCIDENTS.
IT’S NOT UNTIL YOU INCLUDE ADULT TEENAGERS UP TO 19 YEARS OLD –
DO FIRE-ARM DEATHS SURPASS MOTOR VEHICLE DEATHS –
BECOMING THE NUMBER ONE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG U.S. CHILDREN AND TEENS IN 2020.
GUN DEATHS AMONG CHILDREN ARE TRAGICALLY INCREASING AT A FAST RATE.
IN 20-21 – MORE CHILDREN THAN EVER BEFORE DIED BY GUNFIRE.
4,752 CHILDREN AND TEENS AGES ZERO TO 19 LOST THEIR LIVES TO A GUNSHOT WOUND.
THAT IS A 40 PERCENT INCREASE FROM JUST THREE YEARS AGO —
A SCARY PACE – FOR A CAUSE OF DEATH THAT IS ALREADY TAKING TOO MANY YOUNG LIVES.
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