The death rate from unintentional firearm injury among children ages 14 and under declined 49 percent from 1987 to 1997. However, unintentional shootings account for more than 20 percent of all firearm-related fatalities among children ages 14 and under, compared with 3 percent for the entire U.S. population. Americans possess nearly 200 million firearms, including 65 million handguns. An estimated 40 percent of all homes in the United States have some type of firearm, and one in four homes has a handgun. Gun owners keep firearms in the home for hunting and recreation (60 percent) or for protection and crime prevention (40 percent). Guns in the home for protection are more likely to be handguns, found in a home with children, and stored loaded and unlocked.

Exposure to guns and access to a loaded firearm increase the risk of unintentional firearm-related death and injury to children. Unrealistic perceptions of children's capabilities and behavioral tendencies with regard to guns are common.These include misunderstanding a child's ability to gain access to and fire a gun, distinguish between real and toy guns, make good judgments about handling a gun, and consistently follow rules about gun safety. Promoting the safe storage of firearms in the home and reducing their availability and accessibility are important steps in preventing unintentional firearm-related death and injury among children.

DEATHS AND INJURIES

• In 1997, 142 children ages 14 and under died from unintentional firearm-related injuries. Children ages10 to 14 accounted for more than 85 percent of these deaths.
• Each year, an estimated 1,500 children ages 14 and under are treated in hospital emergency rooms for unintentional firearm-related injuries. Approximately 38 percent of these injuries are severe enough to require hospitalization.
• The unintentional firearm injury death rate among children ages 14 and under in the United States is nine times higher than in 25 other industrialized countries combined.
• In 1998, nearly 10,700 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for non-powder gun-related injuries (e.g., BB guns, pellet guns).

WHEN AND WHERE FIREARM DEATHS AND INJURIES OCCUR

• Nearly all childhood unintentional shooting deaths occur in or around the home. Fifty percent occur in the home of the victim and nearly 40 percent occur in the home of a friend or relative.
• Firearm ownership in the home (especially a firearm kept loaded and unlocked) is associated with an increased risk of unintentional firearm fatalities among children. Owners of firearms in the home tend to be male, white, married, age 30 to 65, have higher incomes and educational levels, live in the South and the Midwest, in rural areas and have one to two children under the age of 18.
• Most childhood unintentional shooting deaths involve guns that have been kept loaded and accessible to children and occur when children play with loaded guns.
• One-third to one-half of all firearm owners keep firearms loaded and ready for use at least some of the time.
• In one recent study of parents of children ages 4 to 12, more than half of gun-owning parents reported storing a firearm loaded or unlocked in their home.
• An estimated 3.3 million children in the United States live in households with firearms that are always or sometimes kept loaded and unlocked.
• Unintentional shootings among children most often occur when children are unsupervised and out of school. These shootings tend to occur in the late afternoon, peaking between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., during the weekend, and during the summer months (June to August) and the holiday season (November to December).
• More than 70 percent of unintentional firearm shootings involve handguns.
• Rural areas have higher rates of firearm ownership and unintentional firearm-related injuries than urban and suburban areas. Shootings in rural areas are more likely to occur outdoors and with a shotgun or rifle, as opposed to indoors and with a handgun, as in urban areas.

WHO IS AT RISK

• Male children are far more likely to be injured and die from unintentional firearm-related injuries than female children. Of those children ages 14 and under who are killed from unintentional shootings, more than 85 percent are male.
• Black children ages 14 and under have an unintentional shooting death rate that is more than twice that of white children.
• Children living in the South are three times more likely to die from unintentional firearm-related injuries than those living in the Northeast.
• Children living in rural areas have higher death rates from unintentional firearm-related injuries.
• Nearly two-thirds of parents with school-age children who keep a gun in the home believe that the firearm is safe from their children. However, one study found that when a gun was in the home, 75 to 80 percent of first and second graders knew where the gun was kept.
• Generally, before age 8, few children can reliably distinguish between real and toy guns or fully understand the consequences of their actions.
• Children as young as age 3 are strong enough to pull the trigger of many of the handguns available in the U.S.

FIREARM PREVENTION EFFECTIVENESS

• Two safety devices -- gun locks and load indicators -- could prevent more than 30 percent of all unintentional firearm deaths.
• Product design modifications can prevent unintentional firearm death and injury. Every unintentional shooting in which a child age 5 and under shot and killed himself or another could have been prevented by a safety device.

FIREARM LAWS AND REGULATIONS

• Firearms are not federally regulated consumer products. However, in October 1997, Massachusetts became the first state to issue consumer product safety regulations for guns by establishing safety standards for all handguns made or sold in the state. Most gun laws in the United States target gun users, as opposed to firearm manufacturers.
• Currently, 17 states have enacted Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws, which may hold adults criminally liable for failure to either store loaded firearms in a place inaccessible to children or use safety devices to lock guns.
• State safe storage laws intended to prevent child access to guns have reduced unintentional firearm-related deaths among children ages 14 and under an average of 23 percent.
• Four states -- Connecticut, Massachusetts, California and New Jersey -- and several local jurisdictions have passed laws or ordinances requiring the provision of a gun lock with the purchase of every handgun.
• A national gun policy survey found that 68 percent of Americans endorse government regulation of the safety design of guns and 88 percent support laws requiring all new handguns be childproofed.

HEALTH CARE COSTS AND SAVINGS

• The total annual cost of unintentional firearm-related death and injury among children ages 14 and under is more than  $3.7 billion. Children ages 5 to 14 account for more than $3.5 billion, or nearly 95 percent, of these costs.
• Among children ages 14 and under, unintentional firearm-related injuries account for half of the total cost of all firearm injuries, which include homicide, suicide and unintentional firearm injuries.
• Hospital treatment for a firearm-related injury averages between $7,000 and more than $15,000 per case.

PREVENTION TIPS

• Children should not have access to firearms. A gun in the home is a danger to children. Parents should seriously weigh the risks of keeping a gun in the home.
• Gun owners should always store firearms unloaded and locked up, out of reach of children. Ammunition should be stored locked in a separate location, also out of reach of children.
• Safety devices such as gun locks, lock boxes or gun safes should be used for every gun kept in the home.
• Parents should talk to children about the dangers of guns, teach children to never touch or play with guns, and to tell an adult if they find a gun.
• Parents should check with neighbors, friends or relatives or adults in any other homes where children may visit to ensure they follow safe storage practices if firearms are in their homes.

12/99 This information was compiled by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.