The gun massacre America isn't talking about

Studies show that a loaded gun in the home greatly increases the risk of someone in that residence from being shot. Photo / 123RF

They are the daily headlines that have become all too common.

In their homes, in their cots or in the car - handguns and firearms reportedly kill more children in the US than the flu.

Just this month, a toddler found his mother's handgun and fatally shot his 2-year-old brother in Colorado.

Days later, a 7-year-old girl was shot and killed by her 2-year-old cousin, after the firearm discharged and fatally struck her inside a Nashville apartment, said news.com.au.

And just this week - another 2-year-old boy accessed a handgun within the family home - and accidentally shot himself while playing in the hallway.

These incidents make up a small pool of the 1,300 children in the US aged 17 or younger to die because of gunshot wounds each year.

In a new study released in online journal Pediatrics, about 19 lives are lost each day at the hands of a firearm. Of that figure, 3.5 are under the age of 18 - with boys accounting for the vast majority of victims.

"These are preventable injuries that have a major public health impact on early death and disability among children," lead author Katherine A. Fowler, Ph.D. told Associated Press.

"Firearm injuries are an important public health problem, contributing substantially to premature death and disability of children.

Child fatalities in the US is far higher than in any other high-income country, according to the study - which indicates that 91 per cent of firearm deaths of children under 14 years in high-income countries worldwide occur in the United States.

Speaking to news.com.au, Associate Professor and founder of gunpolicy.org, Philip Alpers said people in America believe that loaded guns make you safer.

"That's been disproved over and over again by the evidence," he said.

"Studies show that a loaded gun in the home greatly increases the risk of someone in that residence from being shot."

In a blog post on parenting website ScaryMommy.com, contributor Jen Groeber said the very first question she asks the parents hosting a playdate for her child is whether they have a firearm in the house or not.

"I'll send it in an email usually, although sometimes in an overworked text," she wrote.
"Do you have a gun? And if so, do you have it in a lockbox?"

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics - the safest households are those with no firearms.
And Groeber, who is an artist, writer and mother-of-four, agrees - saying she doesn't have firearms in her household - because "gun definitely aren't for kids".

"When my kids ask why I don't buy them a Nerf gun or an automatic squirter water gun, I tell them I'm not into guns in our house," she wrote.

"I say that I believe that guns aren't made for playing. In fact, as far as I can tell, they're mostly made for killing things.

"But guns definitely aren't for kids, and you don't need to hold a pretend weapon to pretend to kill your brother or sister or friend."

Among the 1,300 children who die each year from firearm-related injuries, 53 per cent are homicides, 38 per cent are suicides and 6 per cent are unintentional. Another 5,790 survive gunshot wounds

The study also showed that an average of 493 children died of gun-related suicides each year - up from 1.6 per 100,000 in 2014, compared with 1.0 per 100,000 in 2007.
White and Native American children are four times more likely to kill themselves by firearms than black and Hispanic children.

"Suicides are often impulsive in this age group, with previous findings indicating that many who attempt suicide spend 10 minutes or less deliberating," the research paper said.

But given the widespread acceptance of gun ownership in the US, parents often are not open to hearing the messages about the dangers of firearms within the home.

"Millions of Americans have a gun in their homes thinking that it makes their family safer, but every day in our nation, dozens of these families learn just how dangerous and tragic that miscalculation can be," Dan Gross, president of the Brady Center, said in a statement to VICE. "The bottom line is, having a gun in the home dramatically increases the danger that a child will be shot and killed."

The study is the most comprehensive analysis of firearm deaths and injuries among American children ever conducted, according to two paediatric experts who were not involved in the research.

Centers for Disease Control researchers say there are a variety of ways to prevent firearm injuries and deaths through programs that help children manage their emotions and develop coping and problem-solving skills.

These may take the form of street outreach, school-based programs and therapeutic approaches. Related issues like poverty also need to be addressed, according to the study.

In addition, properly storing guns can prevent access by a child who is playing or one considering suicide at a time of crisis.

"However difficult it may be to confront the problem of firearm injuries in our children, youth, and families, we cannot ignore the magnitude of this ongoing public health crisis," Dr. Eliot Nelson, a University of Vermont College of Medicine professor, added.