Not surprisingly, many victims of unintentional shootings are children and young adults. In 1996 the rate of unintentional firearms death was highest among males aged 15 to 19 (2.3 per 100,0000)�more than four and a half times the unintentional firearms death rate for all Americans (0.5 per 100,000).⁶⁸ From 1987 to 1996, nearly 2,200 American children 14 years of age and younger died from unintentional shootings.⁶⁹ In 1996 alone, 138 kids were shot and killed unintentionally.⁷⁰ An estimated 10 times that number are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms each year for nonfatal unintentional gunshot wounds.⁷¹ Although the victims of unintentional gunshot wounds are less likely to die than the victims of intentionally inflicted gunshot injuries, those who survive�like all gunshot victims�may suffer long-term impairment and permanent disability.

Overall, from 1987 to 1996 rates of unintentional firearms death among children under the age of 15 actually fell by 51 percent�with an average rate of 0.4 per 100,000.⁷² This overall rate reduction does not necessarily represent a drop in the number of children suffering unintentional gunshot wounds, but only a reduction in the number of children who actually die from their injuries. Among the unacknowledged factors that may be contributing to this trend are improvements in pediatric trauma care�most notably in rural^e settings�which would increase the chances of a child surviving an unintentional shooting.⁷³ In addition, while the overall unintentional firearms death rate among children and youth up to age 15 may have declined, the rates among specific age groups have ebbed and flowed while remaining above national averages. For example, in 1996 the unintentional firearms death rate among boys 10 to 14 years of age (0.9 per 100,000) was nearly twice the overall unintentional firearms death rate for all Americans (0.5 per 100,000).⁷⁴

^d Unintentional shootings are often referred to as firearm "accidents." This characterization, however, implies that injuries occur by chance and cannot be foreseen or prevented. Public health research has replaced the term "accident" with the more accurate term "unintentional injury." This is based on the recognition that most unintentional injuries are preventable through the application of public health strategies including passive safety devices, public education, modification in product design, or limiting access to specific products.

^e One study, "Pediatric Firearm-Related Fatalities: Not Just an Urban Problem," published by James E. Svenson, MD, MSc et al, in the June 1996 edition of the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine found that for pediatric firearm-related fatalities in a rural area of Kentucky, the relative risk of death from an unintentional firearm injury was almost twice as high (1.97) in the absence of advanced life support (ALS) prehospital care, and significantly higher in the absence of a 911 emergency service. The authors noted, "We and other investigators have found a correlation with the presence of prehospital ALS care and lower pediatric death rates in the rural environment."

Go to next section: Nonfatal Firearm Death

Back to Who Dies? Table of Contents