Unintentional Firearm Mortality in African-American Youths, 2010-2019

Background/ Purpose: There is a dearth of studies that have examined unintentional firearm-related mortality in African-American (AA) youths. The purpose of this article is to assess the epidemiology of unintentional firearm mortality in AA youth, examine the risk factors associated with unintentional AA youth firearm mortality, and explore the evidence for preventing unintentional firearm-mortality in AA youths.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was used. Data were analyzed from the years 2010-2019 using descriptive statistics.

Results: Between the years 2010 and 2019, the AA youth unintentional firearm mortality rate increased by 48% while the rate for White youths declined by 29%. The decade from 2010 to 2019 saw almost 400 AA youths lose their lives to unintentional firearm trauma. AA male children averaged 87% of all AA unintentional firearm deaths during this time. The years of potential life lost due to unintentional firearm mortality ranged between 21,200 and 24,300 years. The risk factors for unintentional firearm mortality in AA youths include living in states with high rates of firearm ownership, living in a home with firearms, being an older adolescent, and being of lower socioeconomic status. Of all the strategies to prevent unintentional firearm mortality in youths, the most effective include strong (felony penalty) Child Access Prevention laws, the absence of Stand-Your-Ground laws, and physicians engaging in anticipatory guidance with patients regarding safe storage of firearms.

Conclusions: Despite the limited scale of unintentional firearm mortality in AA youths, primary prevention dictates that public health professionals intervene to keep this public health problem from becoming an epidemic and a larger contributor to health disparities.