GUNFIRE is the second leading, cause of death among Americans aged 10 to 19, the Children's Defence Fund, a US charity, said yesterday. Firearm deaths are in- creasing faster in this sector of the population than in any other age group.
The result in 1993, a child died in the US every 92 minutes from gunfire, most often murdered, the report said.
The leading cause of death among young, people remained accidents, primarily involving motor vehicles.
"This information really should set off alarm bells for every mother and father in America, said the group's spokeswoman, Ms Enola Arid.
"It is, unfortunately, not surprising. We have not done what we should he doing to try and keep our children safe and away from guns".
According to the report, data compiled by the National Centre for Health Statistics show, the gunfire death, rate in Americans below age 20 increased 7 per cent in 1993 over 1992's rate, from 5,379 deaths to 5,751.
That compares to a 4.8 per cent increase in gun deaths among all age groups, from 37.776 victims to 39,594. An analysis of the 5,751 childhood gunfire deaths in 1993 showed
. 3,661 were homicides, 1,460 suicides, 526 accidents and 104 unknown.
. 2,935 victims more than half were white.
. 116 were below age five.
. 141 were aged five to nine making gunfire the fourth leading cause of death in this age group behind accidents, cancer and birth defects.
. 700 were aged 10 to 14 making gunfire this age group's second leading cause of death ranked between accidents and cancer.
. 4,794 were aged 15 to 19, making gunfire in that age group the second leading cause of death, again behind accidents and before cancer. But the gun was the leading cause of death among black males aged 15 to 19. The gun death rate among black males aged 15 to 19 was 153.1 per 100,000, among their white peers 28.8 per 100,000.
"The morally unthinkable killing of children has not only become routine but is increasing in the world's leading democracy," said Ms Marian Wright Edelman, the fund's president. "What will it take for parents and religious, community and political leaders to stand up and say enough?"
More than a decade ago in 1983, a bullet cut short a child's life in the US every 178 minutes, the report said. Since 1979, more American children have died from gunfire than members of the US military in the Vietnam war plus every American hostile action since that conflict ended.
The defence fund complained that government does too little to keep guns away from schools and children.