These are the 2006 mortality statistics, straight from the CDC National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). The actual report you want is R00.1-Y89.9 [pdf]. The relevant statistics begin on page 4515 (727 in the browser).
And yes, they do a great job of burying this stuff.
Want to know how many children under the age of 15 died of negligent discharges from handguns in 2006? 9. Homicides? 29.
I’ll start with interpretations and follow with the original data. The data is broken up into three categories:
- Handgun discharge
- Rifle, shotgun, and larger firearm discharge
- Discharge from other and unspecified firearms
In each case, the first number is an aggregate of all types of firearm, while the second includes only handguns.
We’ll begin with unintentional and accidental shootings (W32-34).
Total: 642/107
All Children under 10: 31/6
All Children under 15: 57/9
Age 15-19: 100/26
Age 19-24: 93/21
Age 15-24: 193/47
Age 30-50: 161/15
All said, there were 642 deaths from negligent discharges. There were 157 deaths before age 19, 35 of which were from handguns. While certainly tragic, this hardly constitutes the epidemic some claim it to be.
Notice the sharp upsurge between ages 15 and 24. This continues through homicide statistics (X93-95).
Total: 12791/997
All Children under 10: 110/11
All Children under 15: 285/29
Age 15-19: 1940/161
Age 19-24: 2887/217
Age 15-24: 4827/378
Age 30-50: 4215/749
285 deaths occurred in children under 15, but 1940 from age 15-19. This represents the peak period of gang activity. Notice that homicides in the 9-year-wide 15-24 age group number more than the 20-year-wide 30-50 age group.
342 children under the age of 15 were killed in 2006 with all firearms. Total deaths among all age groups, from all types of firearms, numbers 13,433.
In comparison, there were 37,465 deaths from adverse drug reactions in 2006.
I have deliberately excluded suicides. I know of no definitive study tying firearms availability to suicide rates. Our per-capita suicide rate places the United States well behind Japan, Austria, France and most of Scandinavia–areas known for very low rates of civilian firearms ownership.
There were 17,153 suicides with all firearms in 2006, and 3655 with handguns. Total suicides from all causes tallied 33,300, or 10.9 per 100,000 people. 51% of suicides were committed with firearms, 11% with handguns.
There’s an obvious anomaly here. One conclusion is evident: a person determined to take his own life will do so, regardless of the tools available. Firearms may make suicide more convenient, but it is obviously disingenuous to claim that their mere availability contributes to a high suicide rate.
Furthermore, notice the spike in the suicide rate with firearms in the 40-60 age range. Though criminal activity and general risk-taking behaviors account for the spike in homicides among teenagers, there are obviously other factors at work when using firearms for self-infliction of harm.
Here are the original data:
Assault (homicide) by handgun discharge (X93)
All ages……… 997
Under 1 year….. 1
1-4 years…….. 4
5-9 years…….. 6
10-14 years…… 18
15-19 years…… 161
20-24 years…… 217
25-29 years…… 172
30-34 years…… 106
35-39 years…… 88
40-44 years…… 65
45-49 years…… 49
50-54 years…… 50
55-59 years…… 22
60-64 years…… 15
65-69 years…… 7
70-74 years…… 6
75-79 years…… –
80-84 years…… 7
85-89 years…… 3
90-94 years…… –
95-99 years…… –
100 years & over. –
Age not stated… –Assault (homicide) by rifle, shotgun, and larger firearm discharge (X94)
All ages……… 768
Under 1 year….. –
1-4 years…….. 2
5-9 years…….. 10
10-14 years…… 21
15-19 years…… 113
20-24 years…… 121
25-29 years…… 114
30-34 years…… 76
35-39 years…… 74
40-44 years…… 70
45-49 years…… 43
50-54 years…… 55
55-59 years…… 26
60-64 years…… 15
65-69 years…… 11
70-74 years…… 11
75-79 years…… 3
80-84 years…… 1
85-89 years…… 1
90-94 years…… –
95-99 years…… 1
100 years & over. –
Age not stated… –Assault (homicide) by other and unspecified firearm discharge (X95)
All ages……… 11,026
Under 1 year….. 5
1-4 years…….. 36
5-9 years…….. 46
10-14 years…… 136
15-19 years…… 1,666
20-24 years…… 2,549
25-29 years…… 1,954
30-34 years…… 1,345
35-39 years…… 944
40-44 years…… 746
45-49 years…… 609
50-54 years…… 379
55-59 years…… 235
60-64 years…… 155
65-69 years…… 72
70-74 years…… 51
75-79 years…… 45
80-84 years…… 28
85-89 years…… 11
90-94 years…… 3
95-99 years…… 3
100 years & over. –
Age not stated… 8[Accidental/Unintentional] Handgun discharge (W32)
All ages……… 107
Under 1 year….. –
1-4 years…….. 4
5-9 years…….. 2
10-14 years…… 3
15-19 years…… 26
20-24 years…… 21
25-29 years…… 17
30-34 years…… 5
35-39 years…… 2
40-44 years…… 4
45-49 years…… 4
50-54 years…… 2
55-59 years…… 5
60-64 years…… 3
65-69 years…… 2
70-74 years…… –
75-79 years…… 3
80-84 years…… 2
85-89 years…… 2
90-94 years…… –
95-99 years…… –
100 years & over. –
Age not stated… –[Accidental/Unintentional] Rifle, shotgun, and larger firearm discharge (W33)
All ages……… 73
Under 1 year….. –
1-4 years…….. –
5-9 years…….. 5
10-14 years…… 4
15-19 years…… 8
20-24 years…… 6
25-29 years…… 5
30-34 years…… 6
35-39 years…… 6
40-44 years…… 6
45-49 years…… 3
50-54 years…… 5
55-59 years…… 5
60-64 years…… 3
65-69 years…… 4
70-74 years…… 4
75-79 years…… 3
80-84 years…… –
85-89 years…… –
90-94 years…… –
95-99 years…… –
100 years & over. –
Age not stated… –[Accidental/Unintentional] Discharge from other and unspecified firearms (W34)
All ages……… 462
Under 1 year….. –
1-4 years…….. 9
5-9 years…….. 11
10-14 years…… 16
15-19 years…… 66
20-24 years…… 66
25-29 years…… 50
30-34 years…… 30
35-39 years…… 21
40-44 years…… 35
45-49 years…… 39
50-54 years…… 31
55-59 years…… 18
60-64 years…… 15
65-69 years…… 17
70-74 years…… 6
75-79 years…… 17
80-84 years…… 9
85-89 years…… 4
90-94 years…… 2
95-99 years…… –
100 years & over. –
Age not stated… –
For suicides:
Intentional self harm (suicide) by handgun discharge (X72)
All ages……… 3,655
Under 1 year….. …
1-4 years…….. …
5-9 years…….. –
10-14 years…… 10
15-19 years…… 113
20-24 years…… 259
25-29 years…… 234
30-34 years…… 206
35-39 years…… 239
40-44 years…… 315
45-49 years…… 368
50-54 years…… 372
55-59 years…… 365
60-64 years…… 228
65-69 years…… 236
70-74 years…… 184
75-79 years…… 199
80-84 years…… 174
85-89 years…… 106
90-94 years…… 42
95-99 years…… 5
100 years & over. –
Age not stated… –Intentional self harm (suicide) by rifle, shotgun, and larger firearm discharge (X73)
All ages……… 2,758
Under 1 year….. …
1-4 years…….. …
5-9 years…….. –
10-14 years…… 18
15-19 years…… 182
20-24 years…… 238
25-29 years…… 175
30-34 years…… 171
35-39 years…… 259
40-44 years…… 251
45-49 years…… 298
50-54 years…… 298
55-59 years…… 219
60-64 years…… 146
65-69 years…… 119
70-74 years…… 103
75-79 years…… 116
780-84 years…… 85
85-89 years…… 61
90-94 years…… 17
95-99 years…… 2
100 years & over. –
Age not stated… –Intentional self harm (suicide) by other and unspecified firearm discharge (X74)
All ages……… 10,470
Under 1 year….. …
1-4 years…….. …
5-9 years…….. –
10-14 years…… 34
15-19 years…… 406
20-24 years…… 780
25-29 years…… 712
30-34 years…… 652
35-39 years…… 812
40-44 years…… 945
45-49 years…… 1,117
50-54 years…… 1,028
55-59 years…… 896
60-64 years…… 708
65-69 years…… 531
70-74 years…… 516
75-79 years…… 555
80-84 years…… 433
85-89 years…… 252
90-94 years…… 84
95-99 years…… 7
100 years & over. 1
Age not stated… 1