A new study published in the Official Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics released some eye-opening statistics on gun-related injuries in death among kids in the United States.
According to the report, everyday since 2009, 20 children or teens have been taken to the hospital a day due to firearm related injuries with a total of 453 dying from their wounds a year.
The study was published on Monday and shows patients admitted to a hospital in 2009 due to gun-related injuries who were younger than 20 represented 90 percent of the total amount involved in the study. It also stated African American males accounted for 10 times more of the injuries compared to white males.
Black teens between the ages of 15 and 19 were also found to be 13 times more likely to be injured by guns than white teens in that age bracket. Researchers also noted victims of gun violence are more likely to be poor and of an ethnic minority
Of all the children hospitalized for gun injuries, 70 percent is comprised of black children, compared to 32 percent for white children. Latino children and teens were three times more likely to be hospitalized for gun related injuries than white children.
The recent study also showed, for the first time, the amount of money used for hospital care in 2009 at $147 million, but that does not include physician-related services, rehabilitation and ongoing care and rehospitalization.
Children under the age of 10 comprise the most common accidental firearm injuries, according to the study. Among the 378 children taken to the hospital for gun related injuries, a third was an accidental or unintended shooting.
Still, 31 children younger than five years old were injured in gun-related assaults in 2009, and 47 kids aged five to nine were injured, according to the study.
Many of the children or teens released from the hospital after being treated for a gun related injury usually leave with some sort of disability, according to the study. The latest study raises the number of those younger than 20 hurt by firearms in 2009 to 7,391, from 6,496.
In contrast to the rising number of teens and kids hurt by gunfire, the report said "there have been no robust public health efforts to reduce firearms injuries."
The study states this may be due because a federal law, which is currently being overturned by the Obama administration, blocked the use of taxpayer money to fund research in search for gun control measures.
