For the third year, firearms killed more children and teens than any other cause including car crashes and cancer.
A new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions highlights the ongoing gun violence crisis in the United States including an alarming increase in suicide among Black teens. The report also found that gun violence disproportionately impacts Black youth with rates 18 times higher than their white peers.
Gun Violence in the United States 2022: Examining the Burden Among Children and Teens assessed the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2022, highlighting that 48,204 people, the second highest on record, died from gunshots in the U.S.
The report found overall that gun suicides increased 2.7 percent over the previous year to 27,032, the highest level since the CDC began tracking firearm fatalities in 1968.
The annual report focused on gun deaths among children ages 1 to 17. In the U.S., gun death rates in this age group have increased by 106 percent since 2013 and have been the leading cause of death in this age group since 2020.
It was written by Silvia Villarreal, Rose Kim, Elizabeth Wagner, Nandita Somayaji, Ari Davis, and Cassandra Crifasi.
“We hope this report helps policymakers grasp the scale of this crisis and the possibility of addressing it more effectively with equitable, evidence-based measures including child gun access prevention laws,” said Villarreal, MPP, lead author of the report and director of research translation at the center.
The firearm fatality statistics cited in the report were derived from the CDC’s Underlying Cause of Death database, which is based on death certificates for U.S. residents, and includes unintentional shootings, shootings by police, suicides, and homicides.
Report: Steps for preventing gun deaths
Strengthen child access prevention laws
To address the gun violence crisis among youth, the report authors recommend extending and strengthening child access prevention laws. Currently more than half of U.S. states have laws that require secure storage of firearms in households with minors. Some jurisdictions hold firearm owners accountable when a minor’s access to a firearm leads to an injury or death.
Implement firearm licensing measures
To help prevent gun violence, the report authors also recommend implementing firearm licensing that includes a background check and safety training; policies that remove firearms from those at risk of harming self or others; community violence intervention programs; more stringent permitting for open and concealed carrying of firearms; and repealing stand-your-ground laws.
“The research is clear. These policies can help reduce rates of gun violence, including the record-high rates we’re seeing among our nation’s youngest and most vulnerable,” said Crifasi, PhD, MPH, report co-author and co-director of the center.
Report: Gun deaths among Black children and teens
The report shows the disproportionate impact of gun deaths among Black children and teens including an alarming increase in teen suicide.
- In 2022, in the 1 to 17 age group, Black children and teens had a gun death rate 18 times higher than that of white children in the same age group
- The gun homicide rate among Black children and teens rose 5.6 percent from 2021 to 2022
- The rate of gun suicide among Black older teens and emerging adults, ages 15 to 19, surpassed the gun suicide rate among white teens in that age range for the first time
- Black male teens and young adults accounted for 34 percent of gun homicides
- From 2013 to 2022, the rates of gun suicide among Black youth ages 10 to 17 tripled
- Black male teens and young adults (ages 15 to 34) accounted for 34 percent of all gun homicides though they represented just 2 percent of the total U.S. population
- The gun homicide rate for Black male teens and young adults (ages 15 to 34) was 24 times higher than that for white males in this age group
- The gun homicide rate among Black female teens and young adults ages 15-34 was nine times higher than that of their white female counterparts
- 55 percent of deaths among Black older teens ages 15 to 17 in 2022 were caused by guns
Report: Other key findings
- Firearms remained the leading cause of death for children and teens ages 1 to 17
- 48,204 total gun deaths, the second highest number on record
- 27,032 suicides, an all-time high in the United States
- 2,526 gun deaths among children and teens, a 106 percent increase since 2013
- After peaking in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall U.S. gun violence rate fell 2.7 percent in 2022 with 626 fewer deaths
- A lower homicide rate led to decline, homicide deaths decreased 7.5 percent in 2022, with 1,307 fewer gun homicides
- Gun suicides increased 2.7 percent over 2021 to 27,032, the highest level since the CDC began tracking firearm fatalities in 1968
- There were 2,526 gun deaths in 2022 among 1- to 17-year-olds, nearly seven per day
- Firearms accounted for nearly a third of all deaths among 15- to 17-year-olds
- From 2013 to 2022, the rates of gun suicide among Hispanic youth ages 10 to 17 more than doubled
- Across all age groups, American Indian/Alaskan Natives were five times more likely to die by gun homicide than their white counterparts
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Crystal Graham
