A new CDC gun study used data from 2012 to 2014 to determine that while gun homicides and accidental gun deaths among children declined, suicides of children in which guns were used showed a large increase.
Nearly 1,300 children ages 0-17 die each year from gunshot wounds on average, and 5,790 are medically treated for a gun-related injury, the study published in the journal Pediatrics showed. Gun-related deaths were the third-highest cause of death overall and second only to automobile accidents in injury-related deaths among children.
"Child firearm suicide rates ... showed a significant downward trend between 2002 and 2007, decreasing 23 percent ... but then a significant upward trend between 2007 and 2014, increasing 60 percent ... to the highest rate seen over the period examined," the study said.
The study used data from the National Vital Statistics System and National Electronic Injury Surveillance System as well as the National Violent Death Reporting System. According to the CDC, the actual numbers may be underreported because gun deaths may not be consistently reported.
Boys, African-Americans, and older children were far more likely to die from guns, with 58 percent of all gun deaths being ruled as homicides while 38 percent were suicides, the study found. Most gun accidents among younger children involved the child playing with a gun.
Boys accounted for 82 percent of the firearm deaths and 84 percent of nonfatal injuries from firearms. White and Native American children had the highest rates of suicide using a firearm. Midwestern, western, and southern states had higher rates of gun deaths among children, according to the CDC study.
The study recommended that parents keep guns unloaded, locked up, and away from children. Parents also should be aware of kids' state of mind so they don't make a rash decision with a gun while they are upset, the CDC added.
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