No, Children Are Not More Likely to Die by Guns Than Vehicles

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Another year brings about another opportunity for gun control activists and their media lackeys to manipulate CDC fatal injury data to push a misleading factoid on children and firearms.

This is how it works: Step one, acquire statistics on firearm-related deaths among children ages 1-14. Step two, combine that relatively low number with the far greater number of firearm-related deaths involving juveniles and young adults ages 15-19, or even ages 15-24. Step three, present the resulting data as the shocking number of “children” (ages 1-19 or 1-24) who are subjected to “gun violence” each day/week/month/year. Step four, use the disingenuous statistic to advocate for pre-determined gun control policies.

Upon the release of the CDC’s 2021 fatal injury data, gun controllers dredged up this tactic once again. As with overall violent crime, firearm-related violence has been elevated in recent years, alongside the conscious implementation of soft-on-crime criminal justice policies. Sadly, younger people were no exception to this increase.

However, anti-gun researchers and the media abuse the CDC’s data to create misleading headlines, such as the one on this March 29, 2023, CNN article titled, “Children and teens are more likely to die by guns than anything else.”

As the CNN article discusses “children and teens,” consider the data on children – ages 0-12. For this cohort, firearm-related injuries are not the leading causes of death and are not higher than motor vehicle deaths. The number of motor vehicle deaths in this age group is more than double that of firearms-related deaths. The number of motor vehicle deaths in the 0-14 age group is 55 percent higher than firearm-related deaths. Moreover, when examining those ages 0-16, motor vehicle deaths are still higher than firearm-related deaths.

This does shift when examining those ages 15-19. Over 80 percent of the firearm-related deaths that occur in the 0-19 age group happen among juveniles and young adults ages 15-19. This disparity shouldn’t be surprising. The 15-19 cohort is far more often engaged in the type of street crime that can give rise to firearm-related violence and that many jurisdictions have decided to address in a more lenient manner in recent years. The conflation of this age group with young children is even more absurd when one considers that in the vast majority of jurisdictions, those 15 and older can be prosecuted as adults.

The next time you see a shocking headline about children and firearms, keep in mind how those pushing a political agenda have no interest in the truth.


About NRA-ILA:

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org

National Rifle Association Institute For Legislative Action (NRA-ILA)

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Arizona

How many incidences of riots, looting or gangs of “youths” destroying whatever they cross are we seeing for 14-19 year olds? These aren’t “children”, and they sure aren’t innocent. Stats on victims of shootings should include whether the so-called victims were participants in violence, shooting back, criminally engaged, etc. The media present these stats as if they were innocent babes. Many aren’t.

2WarAbnVet

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is obviously pushing the left’s rabid anti-gun agenda to disarm the public. One might first ask how firearms became classed as a disease, since they are used defensively by Americans between one and a half and three million times each and every year.

Vince

Here are numbers of deaths from the CDC database, for an older but truthful period, 1999-2017, for children aged 0 – 17.

  • Occupants of motor vehicles 27,189
  • Unknown situations, motor vehicles 24,201
  • Suffocation 21,008
  • Drowning 17,270
  • Pedestrians and motor vehicles 12,098
  • Fire/burning (non-residential) 7,982
  • Fire, residential 7,237
  • Poisoning 5,166
  • Other land transportation 3,489
  • Bicycles (pedal cycles) 2,467
  • Falls 2,118
  • Firearms 1,994
  • Natural/Environmental 1,797

18 to 21 year-olds are adults everywhere and are not included in the statistics.

Oldman

It sure has Ope! Tucker’s show was the highest watched on Fox News’s Menu………..Just like Gutfeld’s is the highest rated and watched Late Night Show. I guess Fox did not like paying 3/4 billion+ for what Tucker and Laura said. And now we will probably never hear how it really went down for sure. I doubt Tucker was unwilling to go under the thumb of Fox Network. Laura, probably would and I imagine so would Hannity. Such a ‘tough guy’ Hannity is…..NOT!

Oldman

I just got news via my wife that Tucker will be going to work as program director for One America News in 2 years. Fox will be paying his salary for the next 2 years and that keeps him from doing news for that length of time. Boy did Fox fu** up when they stabbed Tucker in the back.

Oldman

I don’t think they can stop him from writing a book. I will be looking for it in the very near future. 6months, maybe?

Coelacanth

Fox News went to the Dark Side, years ago.

Montana454Casull

Democrats like to promote the ” gun violence” hoax but truth is Joe Bidens border policies are killing hundreds of children daily with fentanyl and all we hear from them and the media is crickets on this tragedy. The new zombie rainbow drug is an epidemic and its targeting our youth .

Hazcat

Screw the NRA.

DIYinSTL

Without a link to the data being used, the NRA story isn’t any better than the CNN article. Perhaps a more interesting story is why does the CDC not allow anonymous access to the data which is (supposedly) linked to by CNN.

Oldman

I think Fox has now decided it does not want to be involved anymore in real unbiased news. Dan Bongino will be leaving soon. They refused to give him a new contract…..who’s next? Judge Perino?

GomeznSA

Yet another classy example of the ‘big lie’ tactic continuously used by the left and the lame stream media (but I repeat myself). Tell that lie often enough and cloak it in ‘news’ and far too many sheeple swallow it without checking the facts. Remember that the cee dee cee quashed the actual numbers of defensive gun use for decades. ’nuff said.