Increase of Child Gun Deaths among US Youth by almost 50% from 2019-2021
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Gun-related deaths among children and teens in the United States have risen 50% in two years, according to a Pew Research Center analysis released this week.
Before the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2019, the number of gun-related deaths among American children and teens under the age of 18 was 1,732.
But by 2021, that number has increased dramatically to 2,590.
According to the analysis, the firearm fatality rate among children and adolescents increased from 2.4 deaths per 100,000 minor residents in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 two years later, an increase of 46%.
The Pew Research Center conducted the analysis in the aftermath of a fatal school shooting on March 27 in Nashville, Tennessee that left six people dead, including three children.
The center said the number and rate of children and adolescents shot dead in 2021 was higher than at any time since at least 1999.
Pew Research Center analyzed the latest annual death statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).