High Gun Sales And More Time At Home Have Led To More Accidental Shootings By Kids

Accidental gunshot deaths by children handling a gun jumped 31% during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to a year earlier, new data shows.

There were 98 deaths that resulted from unintentional shootings by children from March through December 2019 compared to 128 over that same period in 2020, research by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety shows.

And the trend continues to worsen during the pandemic, the groups says.

So far, in 2021 there have been at least 259 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 104 deaths and 168 injuries nationally, according to the group's #NotAnAccident Index. Everytown is a U.S. nonprofit that advocates for gun control.

At that pace the organization projects these incidents in 2021 are set to surpass even the record reached in 2017. That year 383 cases of accidental shootings by kids occurred and at least 156 people were killed.

The organization says COVID-19 lockdowns, lack of child care, record gun sales in the U.S. during the pandemic, and a reported surge in first-time gun owners may be to blame.

Accidental shootings by kids happen almost daily.

Everytown has been tracking unintentional shootings by kids for six years. Cases of young children taking hold of a gun and mistakenly shooting themselves, a friend, or a family member happen almost every single day.