A record number of American children were killed or hurt in gunfire In 2022
The first American child was shot less than an hour into the year 2022. The 14-year-old girl was struck in the arm by a gunshot when she was outside in St. Louis viewing fireworks.
According to the organisation Gun Violence Archive, almost 6,000 American children and teenagers have been shot and either injured or died in the year since. Since the database started keeping count nine years ago, that is the most in a single year.
Understanding child gun fatalities and injuries in 2022
According to the archive, more than 1,300 teenagers (aged 12 to 17) died and about 3,800 were injured in 2022. Nearly 700 youngsters (11 and under) were hurt, and more than 300 were dead. These statistics do not include suicides but do include homicides, unintentional discharges, and other incidents.
The number of teens has been increasing every year since at least 2019, according to the archive, but the number of youngsters hurt and killed by gun violence has stayed constant in recent years.
A record number of shootings occurred in the ten years following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which claimed the lives of 20 first-graders and six staff members.
What is causing the increase in gun violence?
According to Mark Bryant, executive director of the Gun Violence Archive, a significant rise in homicides is the main cause of the rise in firearm-related deaths and injuries among American children.
According to Dr Lois Lee, an associate professor of paediatrics and emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School, this is partial because more people have access to firearms. In the past two years, there has been an uptick in handgun purchases, and some states have loosened their laws on gun ownership and carry, according to Lee. A Supreme Court judgement from June also made it simpler to carry a gun and sparked a wave of legislation and legal actions.
More and more teenagers have easy access to inadequately stored weapons as more and more homes purchase guns for various reasons, according to Bryant. He pointed out that when teen gunfights occur, other people are frequently caught in the crossfire.
Contributing factors, according to Dr Samaa Kemal, a paediatric emergency medicine specialist at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, also include the growing mental health crisis among children and the COVID-19 pandemic’s aftereffects, which include financial strains, a lack of community-based resources, and a rise in social isolation.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, which uses broader criteria, the United States experienced more shootings on school property in 2022 than in any other year before 1970, with more victims suffering injuries or fatalities.
According to chief database researcher David Riedman, last year was remarkable since there were three “worst case scenario planned attacks”:
During dismissal, a sniper in Washington, D.C., fired 300 rounds at a school.
A former pupil in Uvalde, Texas, walked through an open door.
A previous pupil in St. Louis succeeded in breaking the glass to unlock a locked door.
The shooter “understood the school’s plan for an active shooter in each of these incidents and figured out how to counter it,” Riedman said.
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