Cannon Ashley D, Reese Kate, Tetens Paige, Fingar Kathryn R
Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, PO Box 4184, New York, NY, 10163, USA.
Inj Epidemiol. 2023 Oct 23;10(Suppl 1):52. doi: 10.1186/s40621-023-00464-3.
Between 2015 and 2021, 3,498 Americans died from unintentional gun injuries, including 713 children 17 years and younger. Roughly 30 million American children live in homes with firearms, many of which are loaded and unlocked. This study assesses the scope of unintentional shootings by children 17 and younger in the US and the relationship between these shootings and state-level secure storage laws.
Demographic and injury data of both perpetrators and victims of unintentional shootings by children 17 and younger in the US from 1/1/2015-12/31/2021 were extracted from the #NotAnAccident Index. The #NotAnAccident Index contains media-report data, which is systematically flagged through Google Alerts. We describe characteristics of incidents and examine incident rates over time. The association between state-level secure storage laws and rates of unintentional shootings by children is assessed in multivariate negative binomial regression models.
2,448 unintentional shootings by children resulted in 926 deaths and 1,603 nonfatal gun injuries over a period of seven years. Most perpetrators (81%) and victims (76%) were male. The mean age was 10.0 (SD 5.5) for shooters and 10.9 (SD 8.1) for victims. Children were as likely to shoot themselves (49%) as they were to shoot others (47%). The majority of victims were under 18 years old (91%). Shootings most often occurred in or around homes (71%) and with handguns (53%). From March to December 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, incidents increased 24% over the same period in 2019, which was driven largely by an increase among shooters ages 0-5. Depending on the type of law, rates of unintentional shootings by children were 24% to 72% lower in states with secure storage laws, compared to states without such laws.
Unintentional shootings by children are on the rise, particularly among children 0-5 years old, but are preventable tragedies. Our results show that secure firearm storage policies are strongly correlated with lower rates of unintentional shootings by children. Firearm storage policies, practices, and education efforts are needed to ensure guns are kept secured and inaccessible to children.
2015年至2021年间，3498名美国人死于意外枪支伤害，其中包括713名17岁及以下的儿童。约3000万美国儿童生活在有枪支的家庭中，其中许多枪支处于上膛且未上锁的状态。本研究评估了美国17岁及以下儿童意外枪击事件的范围，以及这些枪击事件与州级安全储存法律之间的关系。
从#NotAnAccident指数中提取2015年1月1日至2021年12月31日期间美国17岁及以下儿童意外枪击事件的犯罪者和受害者的人口统计学及伤害数据。#NotAnAccident指数包含媒体报道数据，这些数据通过谷歌快讯系统标记。我们描述了事件的特征，并研究了随时间变化的事件发生率。在多变量负二项回归模型中评估州级安全储存法律与儿童意外枪击发生率之间的关联。
在七年时间里，2448起儿童意外枪击事件导致926人死亡和1603人非致命枪支伤害。大多数犯罪者（81%）和受害者（76%）为男性。射击者的平均年龄为10.0岁（标准差5.5），受害者的平均年龄为10.9岁（标准差8.1）。儿童开枪射向自己的可能性（49%）与射向他人的可能性（47%）相同。大多数受害者年龄在18岁以下（91%）。枪击事件最常发生在家庭内或家庭周围（71%），且使用手枪（53%）。2020年3月至12月，与新冠疫情同时期，事件发生率比2019年同期增加了24%，这主要是由0至5岁射击者数量的增加所推动。根据法律类型的不同，与没有此类法律的州相比，有安全储存法律的州儿童意外枪击发生率低24%至72%。
儿童意外枪击事件呈上升趋势，尤其是在0至5岁的儿童中，但这些都是可预防的悲剧。我们的结果表明，安全的枪支储存政策与较低的儿童意外枪击发生率密切相关。需要枪支储存政策、做法和教育努力，以确保枪支妥善保管，儿童无法接触到。
