Stop Gun Deaths!

This introduction originally appeared in slightly different form on The BeZine blog as a call for submissions for the following section, now realized. The works on the following pages of this special section provide a range of responses to the issue of gun deaths—now the leading cause of child deaths. —Editor

Special Section for Summer 2023:
Stop Gun Deaths

We are failing our children. Guns are now the leading cause of death for children in the U.S.

Michelle and I mourn with the students and families of the Covenant School today. pic.twitter.com/8X9qKKzB9d
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 27, 2023

“Guns are now the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. [aged 1–19].” Full stop. Think about that for a long moment.

As motor-vehicle caused deaths for children (ages 1–19) have declined steeply in the U.S. during the first part of the 21st C., gun deaths have risen. In 2020, guns became the leading cause of death for this age group, as the graph below from the New England Journal of Medicine shows. For three years, guns have killed more children in the U.S. than any other cause. Guns. Bullets. Kill. Children.

**Figure 1. Leading Causes of Death among Children and Adolescents in the United States, 1999 through 2020.**
Children and adolescents are defined as persons 1 to 19 years of age.
Source: Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States
N Engl J Med 2022; 386:1955-1956 (May 19, 2022; accessed: 27 April 2023)

According to the Pew Research Center, gun deaths for children under 18 increased 50% in number from 2019–2021. So, that gold line in the graph above keeps going up in the following year, as shown in the graph below.

Graph showing Gun deaths among U.S. kids increased 50% between 2019 and 2021. Data points given values are: 1999= 1,776; 2006= 1,593; 2013= 1,258; 2017= 1,814; 2019= 1,732; 2020= 2,281; 2021= 2,590. An angle shows that the difference between 2019 and 2021 +50%. Source: CDC — Source: Gun deaths among U.S. children and teens rose 50% in two years, Pew Research Center
April 6 (accessed 27 April 2023)

These deaths include accidents, homicides, and suicides. What they have in common is one thing. Guns. It should be notable that, in general, “Firearm homicide rates are highest among teens and young adults 15-34 years of age and among Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic or Latino populations” (CDC). While this is not the same age group, it is likely that these racial and ethnic differences may continue below the age of 15.

Snopes confirms Barack Obama’s tweet at the top of this page, with qualifiers about the age range. Children under 1 are excluded because of unique causes of death. “The leading causes of death among infants (children less than 1 year old) were birth defects or preterm-birth issues” (Snopes). Also, motor vehicles accidents are slightly higher than guns as causes of death when looking at ages 1–17 (Snopes —motor vehicle death rates are higher in that age group, according to Snopes).

Gun deaths are preventable. They are not caused by natural disasters or disease. They are caused by guns. Guns need to be safely stored in gun vaults in homes, away from children and with trigger locks used as an additional safe-gaurd. Assault rifles are the “weapon of choice” for most mass shootings. Therefore, we need gun control to keep military-style weapons off the streets and out of schools. Police need “red flag” laws that enable them go get court-orders to confiscate guns from people at risk of violence to themselves or others. We need thorough background checks.

Why am I not calling for even more gun controls? The politics of the situation are overwhelmingly influenced against any gun control, influenced by the gun lobby. We need to start with reasonable controls for at home safety (safes and trigger locks required, which does not limit ownership) and reasonable curbs on the extreme weapons—assault rifles, which are the most common weapons in mass shootings. The U.S. once had a ban on them, voted in by bipartisan agreement. That expired and has not been renewed in the age of divisiviness.

The fact that guns are THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR CHILDREN IN THE U.S. is a damning judgment on U.S. politics, policy, and society, a judgment about how much influence the NRA wields with lobbying and financing. There is nothing pro-life, pro-religion, or pro-rights about this awful fact. The rights of actual living children to live are being violated at a horrific rate. Guns cause the most deaths of American children. The. Most. Deaths.

Yet, for now, it seems a pragmatic approach might be a few reasonable safety controls: safes (and trigger locks), background checks, ban military-style assault weapons.

Gun deaths can be stopped.

Gun deaths must be stopped.