According to a recent study done by health authorities, guns have overtaken traffic accidents as the leading cause for death among young Americans. This shooting killed 19 schoolchildren Tuesday.
According to the Centers for Prevention and Fight, 4 368 children and teens under the age of 19 were killed by firearm injuries in 2020. This is a rate of 5.4 per 100 000 people. CDC. Nearly two-thirds are due to homicides. This age group saw 4,036 deaths due to road accidents.
This gap has been closing over time due to a decline in traffic accidents over the years. Gun deaths have increased.
These two curves were crossed in 2020 according to the most recent statistics. The results were analyzed and sent last week to the New England Journal of Medicine.
The authors of the letter claim that the new data is consistent with other studies about gun violence in the Covid-19 pandemic. They write that while there are many reasons for the increase, it cannot be assumed that it will return at pre-pandemic levels.
According to the CDC, nearly 30% of deaths are suicides. Just over 3% of accidental deaths occur, while 2% of cases have undetermined causes. These are sometimes called “legal intervention”, or i.e. Deaths that are caused by interactions with law enforcement
Young African Americans are more likely to be shot than young whites. Road accidents pose a greater danger for them.
Native Americans are the second most affected group.
Six times as likely are men to be killed by a gun than are women.
Geographically, Washington is the capital of the United States, followed by Louisiana, Alaska, and Louisiana.
These numbers show that, while mass shootings such as the one in Uvalde, Texas, are a source of public fear and concern they only represent a fraction of youth gun fatalities.
