No, Gun Violence Isn’t The Leading Cause Of Death Among Children

Have you heard the claim that gun violence is the number one cause of death for children in America? It’s a statement that’s been repeated by virtually every media outlet and Democrat, including the vice president. But is it true? Not exactly. As David Harsanyi recently wrote, studies that make this claim often include adults up to 25 years old, which skews the data considerably. When you remove 18- and 19-year-olds from the equation, the number of gun-related deaths among children drops significantly. In fact, accidents like vehicular incidents, suffocation, and drowning are the number one killers of children between the ages of 1-14, according to the CDC. So while mass school shootings are undoubtedly horrific, they are much rarer than gun-control advocates would have you believe.

It’s important to address the mental health crisis and rising juvenile criminality in America, but pushing for “reasonable gun safety laws” won’t solve those problems. As technology and medicine continue to advance, perhaps one day the claim that gun violence is the number one cause of death for children will be true. But for now, it’s simply not accurate.

David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist, a nationally syndicated columnist, a Happy Warrior columnist at National Review, and author of five books—the most recent, Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent. He has appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News and radio talk shows across the country. Follow him on Twitter, @davidharsanyi.

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