Young People

• Young people face the greatest risk of death from gun violence.  Of all age groups, those aged 20-24 had the highest gun-related death rate (32.2 per 100,000) accounting for 132 deaths and the highest gun homicide rate (18.4 per 100,000) in 2004.  In contrast, adults over the age of 85 had the highest gun suicide rate (24.5 per 100,000) accounting for 19 deaths.
• Gun-related injuries are the second leading cause of death for young people aged 15-19, behind motor vehicle accidents.  Among the 64 gun-related deaths in 2004, minority youth were disproportionately impacted – 42% of the deaths involved Latino youth, 13% involved Native American youth and 9% involved African American youth.