Horrifying new data shows that gun deaths among U.S. children have surged at an unprecedented rate in recent years, reaching an all-time high as conservatives have worked to loosen the country’s gun laws at a record pace.
Between 2019 and 2021, the number of children under the age of 19 killed by guns increased by an astounding 46 percent when adjusted for population changes, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This marks the sharpest rise in child gun deaths since the CDC began collecting such data in 1999, and is an increase from 2.4 deaths per 100,000 children in the U.S. in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000, just two years later.
This increase has brought the number of child gun deaths of any cause — including deaths from homicide, accidents and suicide — to a record high, from 1,732 children dying from guns in 2019, to 2,281 in 2020, to 2,590 child gun deaths in 2021, or an average of seven children a day.
Homicide was the most common cause of gun deaths among children in 2021 at 60 percent, followed by suicide at 32 percent; the main causes were flipped among adults, for whom 42 percent of gun deaths were due to homicide, while suicide accounted for 55. The data also showed a huge racial disparity, with Black children five times more likely to die from gunfire than white children.
The increase in child gun deaths is part of a 23 percent increase in gun deaths among Americans of all ages, which hit a record high of 48,830 in 2021.
The upward trend of gun deaths has come as Republicans are rapidly loosening state gun laws, experts have observed, often doing so directly after calls for gun control increase in the wake of a mass shooting.
The report appears to corroborate data archivists’ and journalists’ findings that gun violence has been increasing sharply in recent years. As The Washington Post reported, 2022 saw the highest number of school shootings since 1999, at 46 shootings, topping the previous record of 42 set in 2021.
Meanwhile, other countries are experiencing little to no school shootings or gun violence. Australia has had zero mass shootings since implementing strict gun control laws in 1996. That same year, the U.K. passed gun control laws after a gunman killed 16 children and a teacher at an elementary school in Scotland; there have been zero school shootings in the U.K. since. In Japan, strict gun laws mean that only about 3 people out of every 5 million people (0.0000006 percent) own a gun, versus 30 percent of Americans who own a gun. While there are typically less than 10 gun deaths a year in Japan, the U.S. had 48,830 gun deaths in 2021 alone.
In fact, every other wealthy country has a low rate of gun deaths compared to the U.S. According to a recent analysis from the Commonwealth Fund, the U.S. had 7.4 deaths from assault, including guns, per 100,000 people in 2021. The country with the next highest number of assault deaths was New Zealand, at 1.3 deaths per 100,000 people.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $104,000 in one-time donations and to add 1340 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy