Shootings in rural areas are more likely to occur outdoors and with a shotgun or rifle, as opposed to indoors and with a handgun, as in urban areas. Owners of firearms in the home tend to be male, white, married, age 30 to 65, have higher incomes and educational levels, live in the South and the Midwest, in rural areas and have one to two children under the age of 18. RISK Male children are far more likely to be injured and die from unintentional firearm-related injuries than female children. Black children ages 14 and under have an unintentional shooting death rate that is more than twice that of white children. Children living in the South are three times more likely to die from unintentional firearm-related injuries than those living in the Northeast.
Children living in rural areas have higher death rates from unintentional firearm-related injury.
Generally, before age 8, few children can reliably distinguish between real and toy guns or fully understand the consequences of their actions. Product design modifications can prevent unintentional firearm death and injury. Every unintentional shooting in which a child age 5 and under shot and killed himself or another could have been prevented by a child-proof gun safety device. However, in October 1997, Massachusetts became the first state to issue consumer product safety regulations for guns by establishing safety standards for all handguns made or sold in the state. In addition, most gun laws in the United States target gun users, as opposed to firearm manufacturers.