Unintentional Firearm Injuries in Children

In the United States, a child dies every third day from an unintentional firearm injury. For every death, nearly 20 children are injured, many with serious and lasting morbidity. It is widely believed unintentional firearm fatalities are underreported, as they are frequently misreported as suicide or homicide when medical examiners are uncertain about intent. American children between 5 and 14 years old are 11 times more likely to be killed unintentionally by firearms than in other comparable high-income countries. Approximately one in three children lives in a household with one or more guns. About 20% of these households contain guns stored loaded and unlocked, resulting in an estimated 4.6 million American children living in homes with unsafely stored guns. While children older than 14 years have two to four times the unintentional firearm mortality rate as younger children, the majority of firearm injuries to younger children are unintentional.