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Gun Report Reveals 2,827 Child and Teen Deaths by Firearms in One Year Exceed U.S. Combat Deaths During Three Years in Iraq CDF Releases "Protect Kids, Not Guns" Report The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) releases its report on gun violence against children, Protect Children, Not Guns, at a time when major U.S. cities are calling for strategies to combat illegal firearms. Citing the most recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report reveals that 2,827 children and teens died as a result of gun violence in 2003 more than the number of American fighting men and women killed in hostile action in Iraq from 2003 to April 2006. “Just as gruesome as incoming casualties from a battlefield, the bodies of young gunshot victims stream into urban hospital trauma centers on the frontlines of an undeclared war on America’s children,” said Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund. The children that die every year from gunshot wounds come from all racial groups and are all ages. Some of the children killed by guns are too young to start kindergarten. “The deaths of thousands of children each year is morally obscene for the world’s most powerful nation, which has more resources to address its social ills than any other nation,” said Mrs. Edelman. The Protect Children, Not Guns report comes as many U.S. mayors also are recognizing the toll that gun violence is taking on our country and are seeking solutions. At a recently convened mayoral summit, that was cosponsored by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, fifteen Mayors from across the country called for national leadership in the war on gun violence. Since the summit in April, an additional 37 Mayors have endorsed this urgent message and joined the Mayoral coalition. “These calls for leadership are laudable.” said Mrs. Edelman, “On behalf of the tens of thousands of children and teens we have lost to senseless gun violence, CDF implores our leaders to seize this opportunity for taking a stand for common sense gun safety, which our country has tragically been lacking for far too long. The time for action is now before we lose thousands more children to senseless gun violence.” In addition to child and teen gun deaths exceeding the number of American military casualties in Iraq, here are some of the deadly facts detailed in the report about the toll gun violence is taking on America’s children:
The seven states that recorded the most deaths among children and teens by firearms in 2003 were:
The state with the fewest child gun deaths was Hawaii with one. The rate of firearm deaths among children under age 15 is far higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized countries combined. “We have many more handguns and much weaker gun laws than any other country,” says Harvard Professor David Hemenway, who has worked to develop strategies to combat illegal firearms. The Children's Defense Fund calls for the support of common sense gun safety measures; congressional passage of legislation that closes the gun show loophole to criminal background checks on those purchasing guns from unlicensed dealers; and renewal of the ban on assault weapons. Parents should remove guns from their homes; organize nonviolent conflict resolution support groups in their congregations and communities; and refuse to buy video games and other products for their children that glamorize or make violence socially acceptable or fun. Community leaders should turn schools and places of worship into venues of quality summer and after-school programs for children as positive alternatives to the streets. They should also adopt proven programs like Ceasefire Initiatives that bring families, faith groups, social service providers and law enforcement together to halt the killing of teens by other teens. “It is imperative that we make our homes, our streets and our communities safe from firearms now for the sake of our children,” said Mrs. Edelman. |
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