Increased Number of Children, Teens Wounded by Household Firearms

A recent study reveals that the number of children and teens in the United States becoming victims of gun violence has risen.

According to Dr. Arin L. Madenci, the lead author of the study and a surgical resident at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, researchers studied statistics from the Kid's Inpatient Database between 1997 and 2009. Findings showed that approximately 36 million pediatric hospital admissions with an estimated household firearm ownership from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System showed a correlation between the two.

A recent analysis revealed that approximately 500 children and teens die in hospitals each year due to gunshots and are up by 60 percent from an earlier report. The report also shows that 7,500 kids are rushed to the emergency room each year , which is up from 80 percent of an earlier study.

The study authors also looked at the household firearm data and discovered that eight out of 10 children and teens wounded by gunshots were also inflicted by household firearms, and a majority of the bullets were from handguns.  

"Handguns account for the majority of childhood gunshot wounds and this number appears to be increasing over the last decade," Madenci said. "Furthermore, states with higher percentages of household firearm ownership also tended to have higher proportions of childhood gunshot wounds, especially those occurring in the home."

These particular findings show just how important it is to pay attention to the dangers of household firearms.

The information provided from this study was presented Sunday at a conference of the American academy of Pediatrics, held in Orland, Fla.