The nation was rocked by the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minneapolis just this week, and we are once again faced with the heartbreaking question, why has gun violence become the leading cause of death for children in the United States?
Nowadays, guns are the leading cause of child fatalities. For the fourth year in a row, firearm-related deaths have been the leading cause of death for children aged 1 to 17 years, according to several reports based on data from 2023.
Surprisingly, 20% of all child and teen fatalities during that time were caused by firearms. According to the data, the number of American children killed by firearms has surpassed the combined deaths from car accidents, cancer, and all other causes.
According to KFF, between 2019 and 2023, the firearm death rate among children and adolescents climbed 46%, from 2.4 to 3.5 per 100,000. That equates to an average of seven kids per day being killed by firearms in 2023 alone.
This sharp spike is especially alarming among Black youth. In 2023, Black children and teens faced a firearm death rate over four times higher than their White peers. That year, Black youth made up 46% of youth firearm deaths while comprising just 14% of the population.
This is a public health crisis although some government officials are shying away from the topic. In June 2024, former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a landmark advisory declaring firearm violence a public health crisis, urging evidence-driven responses and policy changes.
Meanwhile, doctors and researchers warn that recent federal funding cuts are putting lifesaving gun-violence research in jeopardy, something that could reverse recent progress in prevention.
What parents and community leaders need to know and understand, is that this is more than a statistic, it’s an urgent crisis playing out in real children’s lives.
