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Guns surpassed car crashes as the top cause of death in America
for those aged 19 and under in 2020, the analysis, based on
recent mortality data by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention data, shows.
That is the first time guns have been the leading cause of death
for this age group, according to the study, which was published
in the New England Journal of Medicine as a letter to the
editor.
From 2019 to 2020, firearm-related deaths from "suicide,
homicide, unintentional, and undetermined" causes among children
and adolescents increased at a rate of 29.5% - more than twice
as high as the general population, Jason E. Goldstick, Rebecca
M. Cunningham, and Patrick M. Carter wrote.
"Although the new data are consistent with other evidence that
firearm violence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the
reasons for the increase are unclear, and it cannot be assumed
that firearm-related mortality will later revert to prepandemic
levels," the researchers wrote.
"Regardless, the increasing firearm-related mortality reflects a
longer-term trend and shows that we continue to fail to protect
our youth from a preventable cause of death," they added.
U.S. road rage deaths also spiked during the pandemic, gun
control group Everytown for Gun Violence said in a report
earlier this month.
(Reporting by Heather Timmons; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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