Nearly 1,300 children killed by guns in US annually

Washington June 20 (IANS) Nearly 1 300 children were being killed by guns in the US annually according to a study.

The study published in the Journal Pediatrics on Monday said that firearm-related deaths are the third leading cause of overall death among American children aged one to 17 years reports Xinhua news agency.

An average of three children are shot dead and 15.8 others are treated in hospital emergency departments daily for gunshot wounds in the US.

The National Survey of Children s Exposure to Violence indicated that 4.2 per cent of children under 17 years old have witnessed a shooting in the past year.

The study revealed that boys older children and minority children are disproportionately affected by the gun violence. Boys accounted for 82 per cent of all child firearm deaths.

Older children (aged 13-17 years) had a rate of fatal firearm injury that was more than 12 times higher than the rate for younger children (aged one to 12 years).

According to the study African-American children have the highest rates of firearm mortality rate and this disparity is largely a function of differences between racial and ethnic groups in firearm homicide.

--IANS
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