NCJ Number
169997
Journal
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Volume: 46 Issue: 5 Dated: (February 7, 1997) Pages: 101-105
Editor(s)
K L Foster
Date Published
1997
Length
5 pages
Annotation
In January and February 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the ministry of health or the national statistics institute in each of 26 countries to provide denominator data and counts by sex as well as by 5-year age groups for the most recent year that data were available on the number of suicides, homicides, suicides by firearm, homicides by firearm, unintentional deaths by firearm, and firearm-related deaths for which intention was undetermined.
Abstract
Twenty-six countries, including the United States, provided complete data. Twenty countries provided data for 1993 or 1994; the remaining countries provided data for 1990, 1991, 1992, or 1995. Overall, there were 2,872 deaths among children less than 15 years old for a period of 1 year. Homicides accounted for 1,995 deaths. Of the homicides, 1,464 occurred among U.S. children. The homicide rate for children in the United States was five times higher than that for children in the other 25 countries combined. Suicide accounted for the deaths of 599 children; 321 occurred among U.S. children. A firearm was reported to have been involved in the deaths of 1,107 children; 957 of those occurred in the United States. The rate of firearm-related deaths among children in the United States was 2.7-fold greater than that in the country with the next highest rate (Finland). Except for rates for firearm-related suicide in Northern Ireland and firearm- related fatalities of unknown intent in Austria, Belgium, and Israel, rates for all types of firearm-related deaths were higher in the United States than in the other countries. 1 table, 1 figure, and 10 references