Return Home
Suicides and Hangun Statistics
All too often we hear about a child being either accidentally or violently injured or killed with a handgun. Many of these unfortunate incidents could have been avoided if the gun's owner had taken just a few precautionary steps and secured the weapon properly. In recent years, we have seen a dramatic increase in violence on school campuses throughout the country. Kentucky, Oregon and Arkansas have had tragic experiences on school campuses. The most recent carnage was in Littleton, Colorado where twelve students and a teacher were slain by two classmates.
The Center for Disease Control's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control reports that:
* Nearly 60% of all suicides are committed with a firearm.
* Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24.
* Homicide is the second leading cause of death for persons 15 to 24 years of age and is the leading cause of death for African- American and Hispanic youth in this age group.
* In 1990 firearm injuries cost over $20.4 billion in both direct costs for hospital and medical treatment and indirect costs for long-term disability and premature death.
* In 1994 firearm injuries were the second leading cause of death for young people, 10 to 24 years of age.
* Every day 15 American children are killed with guns.
* U.S. children are 12 times more likely to die by gunfire than children in 25 other industrialized countries combined.