Homicide was the cause of 70 percent of firearm deaths among children under 18 in 2021
The number of minors killed by firearms in the United States has increased by 50 percent between 2019 and 2021, according to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of mortality data published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, there were 1,732 firearm deaths among children under 18 years of age throughout the country, while in 2021 it had increased to 2,590.
The rate of deaths by firearms to minors, that is, taking population into account, has increased from 2.4 deaths per 100,000 resident minors in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 in 2021, a growth of 46 percent.
Both the number and the rate of minors killed by firearms in 2021 represent the record since at least 1999, the first year for which data on infant mortality from this cause is available at the CDC, highlights the Pew study.
The number of deaths from firearms among the general population has also increased. In 2019 there were 39,707 registered deaths and two years later there were 48,830, 23 percent more.
The data also reveals that homicide is the main cause of death by firearm among children under 18 years of age in 2021, since they account for 70 percent of the total. Suicide (32 percent) and accidents (5 percent) are behind. In contrast, among the adult population the main cause of death by firearm is suicide (55 percent).
By gender, 83 percent of minors killed by firearms in 2021 are male. Age is also an important factor: 86 percent were between 12 and 17 years old, although there have been 179 deaths of children between 6 and 11 years of age and 184 of children 5 years of age or younger.
Regarding race data, 46 percent of minors killed by firearms in 2021 were black despite the fact that only 14 percent of those under 18 years of age in the total population were black. Whites (32 percent), Hispanic Americans (17 percent), and Asians (1 percent) follow.
As a result, 22 percent of fathers and mothers say they are very or very afraid that their children under 18 years of age will be shot. Twenty-three percent say they feel somewhat worried and more than half are not at all worried, according to a Pew survey.
By race, 42 percent of Hispanic-American parents say they are concerned, compared with 32 percent of black parents, 23 percent of Asians and 12 percent of whites.
There is also a difference by political inclination: Democratic or Democratic-leaning fathers and mothers are twice as concerned that their children will be shot (27 percent) than in the case of Republicans or Republican-leaning (14 percent).
