Unintentional firearm-related fatalities among children and teenagers--United States, 1982-1988.

In 1988, gunshot wounds were the eighth leading cause of unintentional injury deaths among persons in all age groups in the United States and the third leading cause of such deaths among children and teenagers aged 10-19 years (1). From 1982 through 1988, 3607 children and teenagers aged 0-19 years died from unintentional firearm-related injuries, constituting 32% of all unintentional firearm-related deaths. Of those, 81% occurred among 10-19-year-olds. This article describes a case report of an unintentional firearm-related death of a teenager and summarizes an analysis of demographic and regional differences in unintentional firearm-related mortality among children and teenagers from 1982 through 1988.