Yes.

Using 2023 CDC data, several reports concluded that guns were the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 17 for the fourth year in a row.

Most gun deaths have continued to be gun suicides since 1995, accounting for 6 out of every 10 gun deaths. Since 2014, the gun suicide rates among Black and Hispanic children ages 10 to 19 have increased by 245% and 98%, respectively.

Among similarly large and wealthy Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development nations, the United States has the highest child and teen (ages 1 to 19) gun mortality rate by a wide margin at 6 per 100,000 children and teens, more than 9.5 times that of Canada, which has the second-highest child and teen gun mortality rate.

Gun deaths comprised 20% of all child and teen deaths in the U.S.

From 2019 – 2023, Oklahoma averaged 75 child and teen gun deaths annually.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Oklahoma Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.

Sources

Support our publication

Every day we strive to produce journalism that matters — stories that strengthen accountability and transparency, provide value and resonate with readers like you.

This work is essential to a better-informed community and a healthy democracy. But it isn’t possible without your support.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.