Kids in US most likely to die due to use of firearms, reveals study

A new analysis of data fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) has shown thatgun-related deaths among children in the United Statesreached a peak in 2021, claiming 4,752 young lives.

Out of those fatalities, 64.3 per centwere homicides, 29.9 per centwere suicides and 3.5 per centresulted from unintentional injury, according to the analysis.

DrChethan Sathya, the lead author of the study anda pediatric trauma surgeon at Northwell Health in New York said the most likely reason someone's kid was to die from in the US wasthe use of a firearm.

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“This is undoubtedly one of our chief public health crises in this country. The most likely reason that your child will die in this country is at the hands of a firearm. That’s not acceptable,” said Sathya, whose study was published Monday (August 21) in the journal Pediatrics.

Increase in deaths surprised researchers

The increase in gun-related deaths in 2021 surprised researcherswho said they were expecting to see a decrease, following their sharp increase in 2020 when kids were forced to be confined to homes due to pandemic-induced lockdowns.

“This was surprising to many of us,” said Sathya, adding that the US haspotentially entered an “alarming new baseline”, where gun-related death among children may continue to rise.

The report states that Black children continue to be disproportionately affected by gun-related deaths. They accounted for nearly 68 per cent of all gun-related homicides, which was a twofold increase from 2020 numbers.

“Structural inequity, structural racism, social determinants of health, food insecurity are all root drivers of violence.including gun violence," said Sathya when quizzed about the disparity in numbers.

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Recent weeks have seen a flurry of cases where young kids have died by the use of firearms. A three-year-old in Florida shot himself with a handgun, while in Californiaa three-year-old killed his one-year-old sister with the firearm. Last week, a six-year-old in Florida was fatally shot by a nine-year-old.

Sathya's research is not the only one that points towards the growing trend of gun-related deaths among children. A Pew Research reportreleased earlier this year stated that the number of children and teens killed by gunfire increased by 50 per cent between 2019 and 2021.

The US has long been associated with gun violence as mass shootings, especially in schools and colleges, have become a routine phenomenon. The data by Dr Sathya and Pew research, now, corroborates the anecdotal evidence.

(With inputs from agencies)

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