In two-thirds of incidents where a child was accidentally shot and killed, the shooter was playing with a gun or showing it to someone, a new study found. Most of the guns involved were loaded and unlocked.
“Unintentional firearm injury deaths are preventable. Securing firearms (e.g., locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition) is protective against unintentional firearm injury deaths among children and adolescents, underscoring the importance of promoting secure firearm storage,” researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wrote in a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The team analyzed 2003-’21 data from the National Violent Death Reporting System that included 49 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Among children under 18 years, there were 1,262 unintentional firearm injury deaths. About 33% were among children ages 11-15 years, 29% were ages 0-5 years, 24% were ages 16-17 years and 14% were ages 6-10 years, according to the report. About 83% were boys.
Just over half of the firearm injuries were inflicted by others, 38% were self-inflicted and in 9% of cases, the shooter was unknown. When the injury was inflicted by another person, three-quarters of the time it was another child.
About 86% of the shootings took place at a house or apartment, including 56% in the victim’s own home.
The gun belonged to the parent of the shooter in about 44% of the incidents. In about 74% of all incidents, the gun was stored loaded, and in 76% of the cases, the gun was unlocked. In 30% of cases, the shooter accessed the gun from a nightstand or other sleeping area.
About 67% of the deaths occurred when someone was playing with a gun or showing it to other people when it discharged, and in 11% of cases, it was mistaken for a toy.
“These findings underscore the fact that parents’ reliance on children’s ability to distinguish between real and toy firearms and not to handle a firearm if they encountered one is insufficient to prevent unintentional firearm injury deaths of children,” authors wrote.
The findings come on the heels of a study in Pediatrics showing the guns used in school shootings often were stolen from a family member.
The AAP advises families not to keep guns in their home. Those who have them should keep them locked and unloaded with ammunition locked separately.
Keeping children safe from firearms has been a priority for the AAP. Efforts this year have included calling for more federal funding of research, holding a town hall with nearly 200 pediatricians and forming a new Firearm Injury Prevention Special Interest Group. In August, leaders from around the country chose two firearm-related resolutions to be among their top 10 priorities for the Academy.
Resources
- AAP policy statement Firearm-Related Injuries and Deaths in Children and Youth: Injury Prevention and Harm Reduction
- Register for the new AAP Firearm Injury Prevention Special Interest Group
- Information for parents from HealthyChildren.org on firearm safety
- AAP gun safety toolkit
- AAP course Safer: Storing Firearms Prevents Harm
- Pediatrics journal collection on firearms
