Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Once again: No, children are not more likely to die by guns than motor vehicles

Monday, August 28, 2023

Once again: No, children are not more likely to die by guns than motor vehicles

In further evidence of Americans’ waning attention spans, the once annual ritual of gun control activists and their media lackeys manipulating CDC fatal injury data to push a misleading factoid about children and firearms has become semiannual.

This is how it works: Step one, acquire statistics on firearm-related deaths among children ages 0-14. 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 0-19 or 0-24) 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.

Back in March, gun controllers dredged up this tactic once again, using CDC’s 2021 fatal injury data. 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.

On March 29, 2023 CNN ran an article with the misleading headline, “Children and teens are more likely to die by guns than anything else.”

As this CNN article discussed “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 more than 50-percent higher than firearm-related deaths. Moreover, when examining the cohort ages 0-17, motor vehicle deaths are still higher than firearm-related deaths.

This does shift when examining the cohort ages 15-19. Over 80-percent of the firearm-related deaths that occur in the 0-19 age group happen among the 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.

Evidently one round of misleading headlines each year isn’t enough.

So, in August, the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics published a paper titled, “Trends and Disparities in Firearm Deaths Among Children.” The paper examined the same 2021 CDC fatal injury data referenced above. Despite the headline, the very first line of the paper acknowledged that the item concerns “children and adolescents.” However, the paper goes on to conflate children and adolescents at various points, later including even 18 and 19-year-olds under the definition of “children.”

The results were predictable.

The same day the study was published online, United Press International ran an article titled, “Gun deaths surge, become leading cause of death for U.S. children.” Today published a piece with the headline, “Gun violence is leading cause of death for US children and teens, study finds.”

As all these items are based on the same 2021 CDC fatal injury data, they are misleading in the same manner as the March CNN article. Simply put, firearms are not the leading cause of death among children – even under the most expansive definition of the term (ages 0-17).

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.

IN THIS ARTICLE
Research Bias
TRENDING NOW
Supreme Court Upholds ATF Rule on “Firearms,” Unfinished Receivers and Kits

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

Supreme Court Upholds ATF Rule on “Firearms,” Unfinished Receivers and Kits

On March 26, in a 7-2 decision (with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting), the United States Supreme Court upheld a Biden administration gun control rule on what constitutes a “firearm” under 18 U.S.C. ...

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

News  

Friday, March 21, 2025

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

On March 20, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published an interim final rule entitled, Withdrawing the Attorney General’s Delegation of Authority. That bland title belies the historic nature of the measure, which is aimed at reviving ...

House Judiciary Committee Votes to Advance Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation

News  

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

House Judiciary Committee Votes to Advance Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation

On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the House Judiciary Committee held a markup for several bills, including two NRA-backed bills. With this crucial step in the legislative process now complete, these pieces of legislation can now ...

More Polish Citizens are Carrying Firearms for Self-Defense

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

More Polish Citizens are Carrying Firearms for Self-Defense

Certain parts of the world—sadly, without any specifically recognized right to arms—have been moving closer to accepting the fact that firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens is not the inherently dangerous concept promoted by ...

Colorado: FOID Bill Heads to Governor's Desk, TAKE ACTION NOW!

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Colorado: FOID Bill Heads to Governor's Desk, TAKE ACTION NOW!

On Friday, March 28th, Senate Bill 25-003, the semi-auto ban turned FOID-scheme bill, passed the final vote on the Senate floor, concurring in the House amendments. 

Trump DOJ to Investigate Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for Permit Delays

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

Trump DOJ to Investigate Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for Permit Delays

The United States Supreme Court, in its landmark Bruen decision recognizing a right to carry in public for self-defense, did not foreclose shall-issue licensing as being consistent with the Second Amendment.

Just One More Step: Australia’s New Weapon Laws

News  

Monday, March 24, 2025

Just One More Step: Australia’s New Weapon Laws

Australia implemented a firearm ban and mandatory confiscation in 1996 pursuant to the National Firearms Agreement, in which nearly 700,000 privately-owned firearms were turned in to the government and destroyed. 

President Trump Works to Expedite D.C. Carry Permits

News  

Monday, March 31, 2025

President Trump Works to Expedite D.C. Carry Permits

On March 27, President Donald J. Trump signed a wide-ranging executive order titled, “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.”

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Colorado’s Excise Tax on Firearm and Ammunition Sales

News  

Second Amendment  

Monday, March 31, 2025

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging Colorado’s Excise Tax on Firearm and Ammunition Sales

Today, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), together with the Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Colorado State Shooting Association, Magnum Shooting Center, and an NRA member, filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s 6.5% excise ...

Rhode Island:  Gun Owners Turn Out In Large Numbers To Oppose Semi-Auto Ban

Friday, March 28, 2025

Rhode Island:  Gun Owners Turn Out In Large Numbers To Oppose Semi-Auto Ban

The Statehouse was flooded with yellow as Ocean State gun owners turned out in massive numbers to oppose a sweeping gun ban. On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee held a lengthy hearing to consider H.5436, a ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

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.