This year, more than 6,000 American children have been shot and killed, which is the highest number in the last nine years, according to a non-profit group.
The Gun Violence Archive reported that 6,023 US children aged 17 and below had been killed or injured by gunshots this year, exceeding the recorded number in 2021 of 5,708 fatalities or injuries, ABC News reported.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, this was the single worst year for kid gun deaths and injuries since the organization began collecting records in 2014.
The website claims that at least 306 kids below 11 years old have been shot and murdered in 2022. Moreover, the posted data indicates that 1,323 adolescents aged 12 to 17 were killed in shootings.
Gun Fire Kills Thousands of US Minors Every Year
The Gun Violence Archive started keeping track of shootings in 2014, and in that first year, they found 2,859 cases involving children 17 years old or younger who were either killed or wounded by gunfire.
According to Kansas City ABC station KMBC, a 3-year-old child in Kansas City, Missouri, was accidentally shot and died on Christmas Eve.
On May 24, 2022, a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 pupils and a teacher. All of the victims were 11 years old or younger.
Cecilia Thomas, a 5-month-old baby, was one of the year's youngest gun-related fatalities. She got shot in the head while in a moving vehicle in Chicago on June 24 as part of a drive-by assault.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 47,000 US firearm fatalities in October, the largest in roughly four decades, as per a Politico report.
Researchers have shown that although the US population is expanding, the incidence of gun fatalities is significantly worsening. Last year, gun-related murder and suicide rates jumped 8%, reaching heights never before seen since the early 1990s.
Researchers analyzed changes in gunshot fatalities since 1990 in the current study. They discovered that gun fatalities increased consistently from 2005 to 2021 but surged by 20% from 2019 to 2021.
Hotter Days Linked To Increased Gun Violence Incidence
Meanwhile, research from the schools of social work at the University of Washington and Boston University offers a groundbreaking examination of the issue of shootings that may be linked to the heat on a national scale, according to Medical Express.
The research, published in JAMA Network Open, revealed that shootings were more likely in 100 of the nation's most populous cities when temperatures were higher.
After accounting for seasonal variations, a thorough analysis finds that roughly 7% of shootings are caused by warmer-than-average days. This study found that gun violence is more prevalent in the Northeast and the Midwest on days when temperatures are higher than average.
Dr. Jonathan Jay, the study's senior author and head of BUSPH's Research on Innovations for Safety and Equity (RISE) Lab, as well as a cooperating faculty member of Boston University's Center for Climate and Health, noted that their research offers compelling evidence that daily temperature plays impacts the rate of gun violence.
"Even though some regions showed larger or smaller effects, the general pattern is remarkably consistent across cities," the expert said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, gun violence has become the top cause of mortality among children and teenagers. These results emphasize the need for continued policies and initiatives to adjust neighborhoods to heat and reduce heat-related gun violence, as climate change is likely to boost daily temperatures.
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