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1994.01.27 :  Firearms Deaths

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE         Office of Public Affairs
2 P.M., EST                   Centers for Disease Control and
Thursday, Jan. 27, 1994       Prevention - (404) 639-3286
                              National Center for Health
                              Statistics - (301) 436-7551

      FIREARM MORTALITY INCREASING IN U.S. WHILE MOTOR VEHICLE
                    MORTALITY DECLINES

     Firearm injuries may soon exceed motor vehicle crashes as the
leading cause of injury death in the United States if recent trends
persist, according to studies released today by HHS Secretary 
Donna E. Shalala.

     Already in 1991, more Americans were killed by guns than died
in motor vehicle crashes in six states and the District of
Columbia, according to the studies, published by HHS' Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.  By early in the next decade or
even sooner, deaths from firearm injuries may overtake vehicle
injury deaths nationwide.  Firearm deaths include homicides,
suicides, and unintentional deaths.

   "It is appalling that in the world's strongest and wealthiest
country, death by firearms is increasing at the alarming rate these
studies find," said Secretary Shalala.

     "In our three largest states, firearms are already the leading
cause of injury-related death.  And among young adults, aged 25-34,
the crossover has occurred on a nationwide basis:  firearms cause
more deaths among Americans of this age than do motor vehicle
crashes or any other category of injuries," she said.

     There were more firearm deaths than motor vehicle deaths in
California, New York and Texas, as well as in Louisiana, Nevada,
Virginia and the District of Columbia in 
1991.  In Maryland, the
numbers of firearm and motor vehicle deaths were identical in 1991,
and in Michigan motor vehicle deaths exceeded deaths from firearms
by only 1 percent.

     Nationwide, firearm mortality has been increasing while motor
vehicle mortality has been declining, according to a report
prepared by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).  In
1991, 43,536 people died as a result of injuries sustained during
motor vehicle crashes and 38,317 people died as the result of
firearm-related injuries.  Among the firearm deaths, 47 percent
were homicide, 48 percent were suicide, and 4 percent were
classified as unintentional deaths.

     The national motor vehicle crash death rate declined by 10
percent while the death rate due to firearms increased by 14
percent from 1985 through 
1991.  These trends accelerated from 1988
through 
1991. 

     Shalala especially called attention to firearm deaths among
children.  "Before they reach the age of 16, old enough for a
driver's license, each year hundreds of our children are killed by
firearms."

     The NCHS report examines injury deaths for the nation and by
state for detailed race and ethnic groups in 1990-91.  A related
article by NCHS and CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and
Control appears in the Jan. 28 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly 
Report (MMWR), with comments on the trend and proposed means for
preventing many firearm deaths. 

     "There's a message of hope as well as a challenge in these new
statistics," said David Satcher, M.D., director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.  "As a nation, when faced with high
rates of injury and death from motor vehicle crashes, we developed
a comprehensive plan to reduce motor vehicle deaths.  It is
working; motor vehicle deaths are going down.  As a nation we can,
and we must, do the same to prevent deaths from guns."

     The increase in the firearm death rate during the late 1980s
and into the 1990s reverses an earlier pattern.  From 1980 through
1985 firearm mortality actually decreased by 11 percent.  Motor
vehicle mortality was already on the downward trend, declining 18
percent from 1980 through 1985.

     Projecting from an analysis of data from 1968 through 1991,
researchers at CDC estimate that firearm deaths could exceed motor
vehicle deaths nationwide by the year 2003.  Using only the recent
years, 1988-91, this crossover could occur even earlier.  

     Recent increases in firearm mortality have been greatest among
adolescents and young adults.  From 1988 to 1991, the firearm death
rate for those 15-24 years increased by 40 percent and for those
25-34 the rate was up by 8 percent.  

     The firearm death rate is only 10 percent lower than the motor
vehicle death rate for those 15-24, and the firearm death rate
exceeds the motor vehicle rate for the 25-34 age group.

     "Firearm and Motor Vehicle Injury Mortality - Variations by
State, Race and Ethnicity:  United States, 1990-91," is published
by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, Department of Health
and Human Services.  Copies are available from NCHS at 6525
Belcrest Rd., Hyattsville, Md. 20782.  Copies of the Jan.28 issue
of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report are available at
CDC's MMWR office, Room 5115, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, Ga. 
30333.