Number of children who died to guns reached 'unacceptable' record of 4,750 in 2021, data shows

Gun-related deaths in American children have reached a new record high, new data has shown.

Analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that guns were responsible for the deaths of 4,752 Americans aged zero to 19 in 2021, which surpassed the previous record of 4,368 in 2020.

It is the third year in a row there have been gun deaths in children now firmly ahead of motor vehicle traffic, suffocation, poisoning and drowning as leading causes of death. 

Dr Chethan Sathya, a pediatric trauma surgeon at Northwell Health in New York and the lead author of the study, said: 'This is undoubtedly one of our chief public health crises in this country.