Childhood firearms fatalities: the Metropolitan Dade County experience.

I reviewed the cases of childhood firearms fatalities in the files of the Medical Examiner Department of Metropolitan Dade County, in Miami, Florida. Comparison of cases during the 5-year period from 1966 through 1970 to those during the 5-year period from 1984 through 1988, noting basic epidemiologic parameters, showed that death due to firearms is increasing among children aged 14 years and younger.