• In 2016, 43 percent of gun deaths were among Black children and teens, although they made up only 14 percent of all children and teens.
• 1,335 Black children and teens were killed by guns in 2016, one every 6 hours and 34 minutes.
• The gun death rate for Black children and teens was nearly four times that for White children and teens and more than 8 times that for Asian and Pacific Islander children and teens.
• The majority of gun deaths among Black children and teens were by homicide. The majority of deaths by White children and teens were by suicide. A gun in the home increases the risk of homicide, suicide and accidental death.
• Guns are more often used to cause harm than in self-protection. A gun in the home makes the likelihood of homicide three times higher, suicide three to five times higher, and accidental death four times higher. For each time a gun in the home injures or kills in self-defense, there are 11 completed and attempted gun suicides, seven criminal assaults and homicides with a gun, and four unintentional shooting deaths or injuries.
• More than half of youth who committed suicide with a gun obtained the gun from their home, usually a parent’s gun.