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1993.03.23 :  Firearm Deaths

Smith (301) 436-7551 Jeffrey Lancashire (301) 436-7135
March 23, 1993

       In 1990, 4,200 teen-agers were killed by firearms,
resulting in the highest firearm death rate for 15-19 year olds
ever recorded for the United States, according to a new report
from the National Center for Health Statistics.  Comprehensive
national statistics on firearm deaths have been compiled since
the late 1960s.  
       The center's report showed guns caused one in every four
deaths of young people 15-19 and 20-24 years of age.  Firearms
were responsible for more deaths than all natural causes in these
age groups.  Only motor vehicle fatalities, with nearly 13,000
deaths, were ranked higher as a killer of these teens and young
adults.
        "It is frightening and intolerable to see this waste of
young lives," said HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala.  "As a
society, we need to do a better job of understanding why this is
happening and what we can do to turn these numbers around.  Our
young people need to see opportunity ahead of them, and rewards
for hard work, not the emptiness and unpredictability of violent
injury."
       William L. Roper, M.D., director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, said, "At a time when plans for
education and careers should be uppermost in young people's
minds, many must focus simply on survival.  This hurts America's
future and our ability to compete in the world."
       For both firearm homicide and firearm suicide, rates for
males were five to 10 times those for females.  
       Death rates among all teen-agers in this country continued
to be higher for firearms than for diseases.  In 1990, 39 percent
more deaths occurred from firearms than from natural causes. 
Driving this trend has been the increasing firearm death rate
coupled with the stable natural cause death rate among white
teen-age males.     
       The firearm death rate among teen-agers 15-19 increased 77
percent from 1985 to 1990, reaching the highest level to date
(23.5 per 100,000).  The firearm homicide rate for black teen-age
males nearly tripled.  While firearm homicide rates are highest
and still rising among black males, the annual rate of increase
in firearm homicide in recent years has been greatest for white
teen-age males.  NCHS analyst Lois A. Fingerhut, author of the
study, points to an average annual increase of 24 percent in the
firearm homicide rate for white teen-age males from 1988 to 1990,
compared to average increases of only 4 percent per year from
1985 to 1988.  
       Sixty percent of all deaths among those age 1-34 results
from intentional and unintentional injury, and about 30 percent
(nearly 20,000 in 1990) of those fatalities are firearm-related. 
Firearms are the second leading cause of death, following motor
vehicle injuries, for all those 10-34 years of age, and the
leading cause of death for black males 10-34.  Firearm homicide
specifically was the second leading cause of death for those 15-
24, and for black males 15-34 was the leading cause of death.
       Among teen-agers 15-19 -- where firearm homicide rates are
rising the fastest -- the rate for black males (105.3 deaths per
100,000 population) was 11 times the rate for white males (9.7
per 100,000).  For suicide the racial pattern was reversed.  The
rate for firearm suicide for white males 15-19 was one and a half
times that for black males (13.5 versus 8.8 per 100,000).  
       Young black males, ages 15-24, had the highest firearm
mortality rates -- five times that for white males and 10 times
that for black females.  For those aged 25-34 the rate for black
males was four times the rate for white males and seven times the
rate for black females.  For younger ages, firearm death rates
for black children were higher than for white children as well. 
Rates for white females were the lowest at every age group.
       "Firearm Mortality Among Children, Youth and Young Adults,

1-34 Years of Age, Trends and Current Status:  United States,
1985-1990," continues a series of analyses of gun-related
mortality for the younger population.  
       NCHS is part of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, one of the eight agencies of the Public Health
Service within HHS.  Copies of the report are available from
NCHS, 6525 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, Md. 20782.


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