The United States is facing a troubling rise in firearm-related deaths among children and teens — with Arkansas ranking among the states with the sharpest increases, according to a new analysis by KFF of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The report compared gun death rates for children under age 18 between two periods: pre-pandemic years (2016–2019) and post-pandemic onset (2020–2023). The findings are alarming: nearly all of the 44 states studied — along with the District of Columbia — experienced an increase in gun-related deaths among youth.
In Arkansas, the child gun death rate rose by 64%, climbing from 3.6 deaths per 100,000 children in 2016–2019 to 5.9 deaths per 100,000 in 2020–2023 — the ninth-highest increase in the country.
Firearms Now the Leading Cause of Death for U.S. Youth
Since 2020, firearms have overtaken motor vehicle accidents and other causes to become the No. 1 cause of death among children aged 1–17, both nationwide and in Arkansas. For children under age 1, birth defects remain the leading cause of death. Notably, gun deaths are not even in the top four causes of death for children in any other peer nation.
In 2023 alone, Arkansas reported a firearm death rate of 6.7 per 100,000 children in the 1–17 age group — totaling 45 child deaths. That represents a 91% increase from 2019, when 23 children died from gun-related injuries, and places Arkansas with the sixth-highest child gun death rate in the country.
National Impact
The CDC data paints a grim national picture as well. In 2023, there were 2,566 firearm deaths among children aged 1–17 in the U.S., a rate of 3.7 per 100,000 — a 48% increase from 2019. This means that in 2023, an average of seven children died every day from gun-related injuries.
Key national statistics for 2023:
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84% of child firearm deaths were boys, and 16% were girls.
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Black children had the highest firearm death rate, at 12.3 per 100,000, followed by:
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American Indian/Alaska Native children: 5.6
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Hispanic or Latino children: 2.7
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White children: 2.2
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Asian children: 1.1
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The causes of gun deaths among youth were:
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Homicide: 63%
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Suicide: 29%
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Accidents: 5%
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Undetermined/Other: 3%
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Public Health Emergency
In response to the growing crisis, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a 2024 advisory, officially declaring gun violence a public health emergency. Advocates and health officials continue to call for urgent, data-driven policies to address the root causes and reduce the number of preventable deaths.
As gun violence continues to claim the lives of more children across the nation, the findings underscore a stark reality: America’s youth are facing a gun violence epidemic unlike any other developed country.
