School Violence Report Key Facts on Youth Crime N early 12 children die each day from gunfire in America, approximately one every 2 hours. That is the equivalent of a classroom of children every two days. Gunfire killed 4,205 infants, children, and teens in 1997, dropping below 4,500 for the first time since 1989. Although the number of young victims was the lowest in eight years, the death of each one is a tragedy.
Guns remain the most common method of suicide for children.
Accidental shootings accounted for most of the balance of the gun deaths of children. Gunfire not only kills children - children kill children with guns. Seventy percent of the victims of juvenile homicide offenders were killed with a firearm. Gun violence is an equal opportunity disaster. Of the nearly 80,000 children killed by gunfire since 1979 - 61 percent were White and 36 percent were Black.