Global Courant 2023-05-12 11:00:59
The spike in gun deaths among children from 2019 to 2021 was caused by older teens, likely linked to the shutdown of school learning during the pandemic, and follows the skyrocketing crime trend the US saw in 2020, an expert said.
Gun deaths among children and teens under the age of 18 are up 50% from 2019 to 2021, Pew Research found, citing death statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data showed that there were 1,732 child firearm deaths in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, before rising to 2,590 in 2021.
The Pew study found that older children and teens were more likely to be killed in a shooting than younger children, finding that “The 12 to 17 age group accounted for 86% of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021.”
Amy Swearer, senior legal fellow for the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that the CDC data shows that the increase in deaths is primarily driven by older teens, especially among 14- to 18-year-olds.
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Firearms are displayed in a gun store in Oregon, on February 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)
“If you look closely at the CDC data, it is clear that this increase is not because more young children are generally accessing guns and accidentally shooting someone, which has been a much-debated point by gun control advocates concerned about the soaring gun sales during the pandemic. ,” Swearer told Fox News Digital.
“And while there is a slight and disturbing rise in teen suicides between 2019 and 2021, it is also clear that this is not even close to being the most important factor in the rising deaths from firearms among young people,” she added. please. “Instead, this is a problem driven largely by a sharp increase in gun homicides among older teens, primarily those who are 14 to 18 years old.”
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Swearer pointed to CDC data showing that, for example, there were 180 excess deaths among 17-year-olds in 2021 compared to 2019, while there were 150 excess deaths among 16-year-olds and 100 excess deaths among 15-year-olds during the same period. There were 200 more deaths among 18-year-olds in 2021 than in 2019.
Violent crime in America spiked during the pandemic, and some of the most brutal acts involved underage offenders. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Violence soared across the country in 2020 as government-imposed lockdowns caused by the pandemic turned everyday life upside down and protests and riots following the death of George Floyd spread across the country. Murders across the board increased nearly 30% in 2020 compared to the previous year, according to FBI data.
FBI data shows a major increase in homicides nationwide in 2020
Swearer said that “obviously” the spike in gun deaths among minors was linked to the violent homicide spike of 2020, but added lockdowns and their fallout likely also played a role.
“There is also good reason to believe that at least one other factor at play in the specifically appalling increase in teen homicides is the marked increase in older teens committing more crimes during this period – an increase that directly seems coincide with spikes in chronic school dropout.” absenteeism, an issue many school districts across the country continue to struggle with even after a return to face-to-face learning following the pandemic,” she said.
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A sign pasted on the front door of Pulaski International School of Chicago on January 5, 2022. (Reuters/Jim Vondruska)
Before the pandemic, according to the Attendance Works group, which tracks absenteeism, about 8 million students were considered chronically absent from classes, which is defined as students missing 10% or more of school each year. That number doubled to 16 million students in 2021-22, according to the same group.
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Swearer explained that people who participate in criminal activity are “much, much more likely to become victims of gun violence themselves”. This is due to “targeted retaliation, either because they are more likely to be in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’, or because of legal intervention by law enforcement or armed civilians.”
Swearer pointed to a handful of news stories from this year and the last time teens across the country were injured or killed by gunfire while allegedly attempting to commit crimes.
For example, a 14-year-old in Houston this month was shot in the stomach by a homeowner after the teen allegedly tried to break into a car. Another article showed how two teenage burglary suspects were shot dead by a Colorado homeowner last October. While another article showed that a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy were hospitalized with gunshot wounds after allegedly stealing a woman’s car in St. Louis last November.
“I think in some of these stories, the gun owner probably didn’t act in the most sensible or judicious way,” she said. getting shot (rightfully or not) is increasing exponentially.”
An image of the working class of students as a teacher speaks. (iStock)
The Pew study found that homicides accounted for the majority of gun deaths among children, at 60%, while suicide accounted for 32% of such deaths. Accidents accounted for 5% of child fatalities, according to the study.
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Boys were also much more likely to die from guns than girls, accounting for 83% of deaths in 2021 compared to girls at 17%. Broken down by race, black children and teens accounted for 46% of all gun deaths in 2021, most of which were homicides, while white minors accounted for 32%, Hispanic minors accounted for 17%, and Asian children and teens accounted for 1%.