116,385 children and teens in America have died from gun violence in the 30 years since 1979. n
The number of children and teens killed by guns since 1979 would fill 4,655 public school classrooms of 25 students each or Boston’s Fenway Park three times over.
n
Since 1979, America has lost nearly three times as many children and teens to gunfire as the number of U.S. military deaths during the Vietnam War and over 23 times the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.13 140,000 120,000
116,385
100,000 80,000 60,000 41,509
40,000
37,000
20,000
5,013
0 Children and Teens Killed by Guns since 1979
Vietnam U.S. Military*
Capacity of Fenway Park
Iraq and Afghanistan U.S. Military*
*U.S. military killed in action. n
Of the 116,385 children killed by guns since 1979, 59 percent were White and 38 percent were Black.14
n
The majority of gun deaths among children since 1979 have been homicides (57 percent) while nearly one-third have been suicides (31 percent).
n
The number of Black children and teens killed by gunfire in the 30 years since 1979 is nearly 13 times greater than the number of recorded lynchings of Black people of all ages in America in the 86 years between 1882 and 1968.15 45,000 40,000
44,038
35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0
3,445 Black Children and Teens Killed by Guns since 1979
Black Lynchings (1882-1968)
13
U.S. Department of Defense. 2012. “Casualty Status.” http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm (accessed March 23, 2012).
14
Data for American Indian/Alaska Native and Asian/Pacific Islander children not available for 1979-1980, Hispanic data not available prior to 1990. Data for White and Black children include those who are of Hispanic ethnicity.
15
Archives at Tuskegee Institute, “Lynchings: By Year and Race, 1882-1968.” http://faculty.berea.edu/browners/chesnutt/classroom/lynching_table_year.html
Protect Children, Not Guns 2012
n
13