Between 1980 and 1994, annual pediatric firearm deaths in Chicago increased from 116 to 247, a 200-percent increase in 14 years. The number of deaths remained relatively stable between 1980 and 1987 but increased dramatically between 1987 and 1994. The largest 1-year increase occurred from 1989 to 1990. During the 1992-1994 period, pediatric firearm deaths rose by an average of 8.3 percent per year. The firearm death rate for children up to 19 years of age was 12 per 100,000 in 1980 and 30.5 per 100,000 in 1994. Adolescents accounted for 83 to 93 percent of pediatric firearm deaths each year between 1980 and 1994. The number of male deaths surpassed female deaths in all years, black males were 20.1 times more likely than white males to die from gunfire, and the most common cause of death for Chicago teenagers in the 1990s was a gunshot wound. 2 references and 1 table