Washington, August 25 (RHC)-- A recent study has revealed that child gun deaths in the United States reached a new unprecedented level, signaling the deteriorating gun violence across the country. The new study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) found that more children had died from gun-related injuries in 2021, in contrast to previous years.
By using the stats provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's mortality database, the study found that gun deaths of American children rose from 3,390 in 2019 to 4,368 in 2020 and to 4,752 in 2021, the latest year for which data was available.
The study published in the AAP's journal concluded that gun violence has been the number one cause of death for children in the United States since 2020. Noticeably, among Black kids guns were mostly used for homicide while the majority of White children used them for suicide.
No place, public or private, has been spared by the scourge of gun violence in America: schools, university campuses, hospitals, shopping malls, nightclubs, sports centers and people’s living rooms.
Meanwhile, South Carolina pediatrician and gun violence prevention researcher, Annie Andrews, who was not involved in this study, said was not surprised anymore by so many gun-related injuries among American children.
Andrews said when she became a doctor, "I never imagined I would take care of so many children with bullet holes in them." "But the fact of the matter is, in every children's hospital across this country, there are children in the pediatric intensive care units suffering from firearm injuries," Dr. Andrews said.
Anti-gun violence advocate, Iman Omer, who is with the Students Demand Action group called the study's findings devastating, yet unsurprising.
"Every year, I know that 128 children and teens in Tennessee die by guns," said Omer, who takes part in the state's anti-gun protests, rallying for tougher gun laws.
Republican lawmakers in Congress, however, have been opposed to imposing tough gun restrictions, citing the US Constitution's 2nd Amendment protecting Americans' right to keep and bear arms. Republican lawmakers are staunch defenders of US arms manufacturers and their objective is seemingly to push gun sales up.
Meantime, a 2022 Gallup poll showed that the majority of Americans are in favor of imposing tougher gun controls to curb violent incidents in the United States.
