Firearm Mortality Among Children, Youth and Young Adults

This article summarizes information from a National Center for Health Statistics report on firearm mortality in the USA. 1988 data showed that firearm deaths accounted for 15% of mortality among persons age 1-34. 40% of firearm deaths among 15-34-year-olds were suicides. The suicide rate was nearly twice as high among white male teenagers as among black male teenagers. Some facts about teen suicide & handguns are also provided, e.g. every six hours, a youth aged 10-19 commits suicide with a gun.