Firearm Deaths Among Kids and Teens Rising

This according to a new report issued by the Children's Defense Fund.

Locally, we've seen proof of this trend. The city of Albany, where PCANY is headquartered, is still grappling in the aftermath of a recent shooting in which a 10-year-old girl was shot and killed by a stray bullet allegedly fired by a teenager.

PCANY executive director Christine Deyss discussed gun violence in New York with the Public News Service.

According to the report, 3,006 kids and teens were killed by guns in 2005, the first increase since 1994 and the first rise in gun deaths since Congress allowed the Assault Weapons Ban to expire in 2004.

The report includes some staggering statistics, among them:

• In 2005, 63 preschoolers were killed by firearms compared to 53 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
• Since 1979, 104,419 American children and teens were killed by gun violence. Sixty percent of them were White; 37 percent were Black.
• The number of children and teens killed by guns since 1979 would fill 4,177 public school classrooms with 25 students each.

To read more and find out what you can do to protect kids from gun violence, download the full report here.