Alarming Surge: Unprecedented Rise in Gun Violence Among US Youth

In the US, there has been a significant increase in gun-related homicides and suicides among children and teens, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2021, the number of firearm homicides in children and teens (ages one to 18) reached a record high of 2,279, which is twice the number of deaths reported ten years ago. This information is based on the CDCs WONDER database. Additionally, there has been an 11% rise in gun-related suicides since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

However, not all children face an equal level of risk. Statistics show that Black children and teenagers are more prone to losing their lives in firearm-related incidents compared to children of other racial backgrounds. In the year 2021, the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that 17 out of every 100,000 Black children were victims of gun violence. In contrast, the numbers were approximately three per 100,000 for White children and one per 100,000 for Asian children.

Based on the CDC data, firearms have been identified as the leading cause of death in children and teenagers since 2020, surpassing fatalities resulting from car accidents and cancer. In 2021, gun-related deaths accounted for nearly 19% of all childhood deaths.

School shootings, although they constitute a small proportion of gun-related deaths among children and teenagers, have been steadily increasing since 2017, with the exception of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic led to a shift towards online learning. As of September 28, there have been 54 shootings, with 37 occurring at K-12 schools and 17 on college and university campuses. Additionally, mass shootings as a whole have exceeded previous years, with over 500 incidents recorded in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.