Two deeply troubling charts on our gun violence problem -- and our kids
It's getting worse.
Two things happened almost simultaneously to me this morning:
I saw the news out of Louisville that at least 5 people had been killed and 8 wounded in a shooting at a bank.
I came across this chart — via Pew — on gun deaths among kids in the U.S..
Consider what that chart tells us. In just the last two years, we have seen a 50% increase in gun deaths among Americans aged 18 or younger. And, as the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson notes, gun deaths are up 100% in the last 10 years. 100%!
It’s not just the raw numbers that are startling — and depressing — either.
As Pew noted:
The gun death rate among children and teens – a measure that adjusts for changes in the nation’s population – rose from 2.4 fatalities per 100,000 minor residents in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 two years later, a 46% increase.
So, yeah.
In thinking about that Pew chart, another one came to my mind — this one from the Centers for Disease Control last month. Here it is:
And, here’s the CNN report on that data:
Firearms accounted for nearly 19% of childhood deaths (ages 1-18) in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wonder database. Nearly 3,600 children died in gun-related incidents that year. That’s about five children lost for every 100,000 children in the United States. In no other comparable country are firearms within the top four causes of mortality among children, according to a KFF analysis.
There’s not a hell of a lot of ambiguity in these numbers. We have a massive gun violence problem among our kids — and it’s costing them their lives. Period. End of discussion.
What’s remarkable is that, if past is prologue, this data will change nothing about the gun laws in this country.
After a shooting at a school in Nashville late last month that left three kids under 9, among others, dead, the response was remarkably ho hum — especially among congressional Republicans.
“It’s a horrible, horrible situation,” Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett said. “And we’re not gonna fix it. Criminals are gonna be criminals.”
The White House, for its part, condemned that sort of throwing-up-of-hands approach.
“It’s unacceptable that Republicans are saying there’s nothing we can do,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “Our schools, our churches, our places of worship have now become deadly places for many Americans who have lost their lives just this past year.”
The only action that’s been taken since the Nashville shooting, however, is the expulsion of two state House Democrats who took part in protests urging politicians to take action on gun violence. (The three used a bullhorn on the House floor to lead chants along with members of the House gallery.)
That’s it. And judging from the reaction of Washington Republicans to the Nashville shooting, it seems unlikely that any shooting or any piece of data — no matter how troubling — will force them into action.
Which is decidedly odd — if for no other reason than that hard political calculation suggests action would be welcomed by the public. Consider:
Almost 6 in 10 people think gun laws should be made “more strict”
A majority of Americans support background checks for ALL gun sales
Three quarters of Americans back raising the age to buy a gun to 21 nationwide
Two thirds of people thinking passing additional gun legislation should be a top or important priority for Congress
There’s lot more numbers but they all point to the same thing: There is a clear majority in this county who supports stricter gun laws — in a variety of forms and measures.
There has been some action taken in Congress on guns. In 2022 — in the wake of several deadly shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas — Congress passed a bipartisan gun measure that, among other things, strengthened background checks for those 18 to 21 and strengthened red flag laws.
But, even that measure was a significantly watered-down version of the original package proposed by Democrats that would have, among other things, banned assault rifles for those under 21.
It’s unclear whether there will be a tipping point in which the number of mass violence incidents committed with guns will become too many — and the country’s politicians will feel compelled to act in a broad and comprehensive.
The data in those two charts, above, however, is determinative. Gun violence is costing our kids their lives — and the problem is getting worse.
This information about gun deaths is horrifying and yet we have seen the gun advocates hide behind the 2nd Amendment which they have deliberately chosen to misinterpret. The other horrifying statistic is 50% of the gun violence deaths are suicide. We keep yammering on and on about suicide prevention but never mention this little nugget. There is another chart I saw this week showing deaths by cause and gun deaths were by far and away the major contributor. So it is true that it is the 'criminals' who are doing all the shooting? Not unless they are shooting themselves and children. Just look up the Active Shooter incidents in the last 20 years (Pew) to know these are not gangs going after each other. Just this week in Florida , after DeSantis pushed the no restriction on carrying guns, 2 guys in a road rage went after each other and by accident shot each others kids who were in the cars. These are the people with guns!!!!
At this point, it seems pretty clear that Republicans will never agree to any type of law that reduces the availability of firearms, or the ability of people of Americans to get their hands on said firearms. In fact, the very opposite seems likely. At some point--possibly as soon as next election--the Republicans will retake the Senate and/or the Presidency, and we will see them weaken gun laws even further. Don't think that I'm right? We have Republicans in Congress actually parading around with AR-15 lapel pins. If that doesn't speak to their views on the subject, I don't know what does.