Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency medicine physician and researcher, recently released some key findings that reveal a deeply disturbing trend. Gun-related deaths among American children and teens have increased sharply. Since 2011, these fatalities have been on the rise—especially in states with permissive firearm policies. The study emphasizes the urgent need for tailored strategies to address gun violence within each state. More importantly, it makes clear that there is no silver bullet.
Dr. Faust’s research uncovers the shocking truth — guns are the number one cause of death for children and teenagers. As they stand, they make up 4% of all pediatric deaths. As you can see, the results are overwhelmingly black-and-white. The results are drastically different in states with strong gun laws than in states with weak regulations. Notably, California, New York, Maryland, and Rhode Island have seen significant drops in pediatric gun deaths, attributed to their stringent firearm policies.
The study looked at more than two decades of data and found that after the 2010 McDonald v. Chicago ruling, things took a turn for the worse. This historic decision held that the Second Amendment’s individual right to bear arms extends to every state and city. It basically ruled out local handgun bans, including those once in place in Chicago. In the next 12 years, the study recorded more than 6,000 subsequent deaths. All of these deaths were in states that had the highest of the permissive gun laws. What’s more, 1,400 preventable deaths occurred in states that rolled back their laws. These states stopped short of going to the fullest absurdist extent of relaxing the law.
“You can’t leave the hospital with a newborn unless you have the right car seat in all 50 states,” Dr. Faust pointed out, highlighting the discrepancy in regulations surrounding child safety and firearm accessibility.
Dr. Faust, pointing to the alarmingly increasing rate of gun deaths for children and adolescents. Alarmingly, he said this trend is not indicative of a broader rise in youth mortality. Rather than a general increase in lethal violence, this spike in deaths is unique to firearms. He noted that auto crashes were once the number one cause of death for children older than infants. That trend has reversed in recent years.
The consequences of these trends have not fallen evenly on all demographics. Non-Hispanic Black children and teens pay a disproportionate toll in states that have relaxed gun laws. Dr. Faust remarked on the implications of this disparity, stating, “States that made it easier to obtain and carry a firearm had a tradeoff for that, which was a higher rate of mortality in kids.”
As policymakers grapple with the complexities of gun violence, Dr. Faust advocates for tailored legislative approaches that consider each state’s unique context. The variation in gun laws and their direct influence on child mortality rates underscores the need for comprehensive strategies aimed at reducing firearm-related deaths among youth.
