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Gun Violence Fact Sheet
Gun Deaths Among Youth: - 4,223 young people ages 0-19 were killed by gunfire -- one every two hours, nearly 12 every day in the U.S. in 1997.
- 2,580 were murdered by gunfire.
- 1,262 committed suicide using a gun-more than three every day.
- 306 died from an unintentional or "accidental" shooting.
- 630 young people killed by guns were under the age of 15.
- 191 young people killed by guns were under the age of 10.
- 84 young people were under the age of 5.
[Source for all of the above: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics] - American children under 15 are 12 times more likely to die from gunfire than children in 25 other industrialized countries combined.
[Source: Centers for Disease Control. Rates of homicide, suicide, and firearm-related death among children-26 industrialized countires. MMWR 46 (5):101-105. 1997.] - Gun homicide is the fourth leading cause of death for young people 10-14 years of age.
[Source: National Center for Health Statistics 1997 data.] - Gun homicide is the second leading cause of death for young people 15-24.
[Source: National Center for Health Statistics 1997 data.] Total Gun Deaths: There were a total of 32,436 people killed by guns in the U.S. in 1997. Of these: - 17,566 were gun suicides
- 13,522 were gun homicides
- 981 were unintentional or "accidental" shootings
- 367 were shooting deaths of undetermined intent
[Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics] - In 1997, firearm injuries were the second leading cause of injury death for all ages and for young people aged 15-24. Motor vehicle injuries were the leading cause of injury death for all ages and for you young people 15-24 years of age in 1997.
[Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Vital Statistics Report, 47 (19),June 30, 1999:table 19] - The risk of suicide or homicide is twice as high for individuals with a family history of registered handgun purchase, than for those without such a history.
[Source: Cummings, P. et al. The Association between the purchase of a handgun and homicide or suicide. AJPH, 87(6) June 1997:974-978.] - Suicide is nearly 5 times more likely to occur in a household with a gun than in a household without a gun.
[Source: Kellermann, A.L. et al. Suicide in the home in relation to gun ownership. N Engl J Med, 327(7) Aug. 12, 1992:467-472.] - The presence of a gun in the home triples the risk of homicide in the home.
[Source: Kellermann, A.L. et al. Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home. N Engl J Med 329 (15) October 7, 1993: 1084-1091.] - Guns were used in approximately 7 out of every 10 murders in the U.S. in 1997. Handguns were used in 53% of all murders and in 78% of all murders committed with a firearm.
[Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States, 1997. Washington, DC: Department of Justice. p. 20.] - Americans own nearly 200 million guns, 65 million of which are handguns.
[Source: Cook, P.L. and Ludwig, L. Guns in America: national survey on private ownership and use of firearms. Research in Brief. National Institute of Justice, May 1997.] Gun Ownership - One-quarter of adults in the United States own a gun and only about one in six Americans (16%) own a handgun. That means that five out of six Americans do not own a handgun.
[Source: Diaz, T. Making a Killing, The Business of Guns in America. New York: the New Press, 1999.]
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