Over 80% Of Deceptive Study's "Child" Gun Deaths Are Teenagers, Including Adults

Only 2.1% are actual child accidents

83.4% of the "child" gun deaths are 15 to 18 year olds

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has done a "study" that is nothing more than some deceptive number crunching of US government stats.  It likely took one person less than a day to complete it.  It's very clear that the goal was to create some alarming numbers to push a gun control agenda.

The document was produced with one purpose in mind: A headline that would promote gun control.  When the average person thinks of gun deaths among children, they usually think of accidents.  The truth is that the number of children killed in firearms accidents is extremely low. Crunching numbers on US population and gun ownership results in an estimate of 50 million gun owning households. Over the 18 years of the study, accidental deaths of 5-14 year olds averaged 49 per year.  This is less than one death per one million gun owning households.  Although every one of these deaths is tragic, this is an impressive safety record.

In reality, a closer look at these number calls in to question the idea that they support further restrictions on firearms.  Let's look at each of these six identified categories individually:

Deaths Among 15-18 Year Olds

Homicide 62.3%
(20,247 deaths - Avg 1,125/year)

These deaths are nearly all a result of some kind of gang or drug related criminal activity - mostly in the inner city.  The idea that gun control will deprive these young criminal of firearms is absurd.  I have challenged gun control advocates to provide one concrete example of a nation that had a severe, gang related crime problem and solved it with any kind of gun control.  No one has ever provided even one.   One need only look to Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil or Venezuela for examples of nations that have strict gun
control and a much greater crime problem than the US.  In fact, these nations have

seen gun violence soar after gun control was enacted.

Every One Of These South and Central American Nations Has Strict Gun Control
Every One Of These Nations Has A Much Higher Homicide Rate Than The US
Every One Of These Nations Has A Greater Gang Problem Than The US

Suicide 32.9%
(10,688 deaths - Avg 594/year)

Gun control advocates love firearms suicides - because they can combine them with murders and call them "gun deaths" which most people think means firearms homicides.  If gun control reduces suicides, than the suicide rate in the UK (firearms in 4% of homes) should be much lower than that in Canada (firearms in 28% of homes) or the US (firearms in 45% of homes).  However this is not the case - these three English speaking countries have nearly identical suicide rates.  Sure, the methods vary, with hanging being the most common method in the UK, but the rates are very close.  This real world data completely disproves the notion that gun laws can reduce suicides.

Accident 3.5%
(1,121 deaths - Avg 62/year)

As with children, an accidental death rate of only 62 per year in a population of 360 million is very low.  In comparison,  2,734 teenagers ages 13-19 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2017.  Since the death toll was greatest for 17 year olds, it's clear that many, if not most, of these deaths were in the 15-18 year old age range.  Even if only 50% of the deaths were in the 15-18 age range, the traffic death rate is 20 times greater than the accidental firearms death rate.

Deaths Among 5 To 14 Year Olds

Accident 12.8%
(830 deaths Avg 46/year)

As noted above, this is an exceptionally low accident rate, given the large number of American homes containing firearms.  In fact, given that the population of children 5-14 during this time averaged about 40 million, the rate of accidental death works out to be about .12 deaths per 100,000 children.  The overall death rate for children 5-14? 13.7 per 100,000.   Simple math reveals that, in spite of nearly half of American homes containing firearms, less than one death in 114 in this age group is the result of a firearms accident.

Suicide 29.6% percent
(1,912 - Avg 106/year)

While suicides are tragic at any age, they are especially tragic in this group.  While logic indicates that most of the suicides in the 5-14 age groups involves the older, adolescents in this age range, CDC simply does not publish this data.  As with older suicides, firearms are only one method available to them.  Additionally, in contrast to adult suicides, firearms are not the most common method - suffocation, which likely includes hangings, is now the most common method used - making it clear that even if we could eliminate firearms completely, they would likely just choose another method. 

Most Suicides In This Age Group Do Not Involve Guns

Homicide 54.8% percent
(3,545 - Avg 197/year)

Here we face the same issue as with suicides - the age range of 5-14 includes small children at the low end and adolescents at the high end.  Younger victims, sadly, are, in most cases, likely to have been victims of adults, even parents.  Adults do not need a firearm to kill a young child.  At the older end of the age range, where there is a good chance that most of these deaths took place, gang activity is likely to have been a critical factor.  As we have previously seen, gangs who want guns will get them. Through many have tried, no nation has ever controlled gang violence with gun control.

So, when you look past the headlines, when you examine each category, the idea that these very real problems can be solved with more gun control laws simply falls apart.  More than this, the deceptive nature of this so called "study:" is exposed.