Firearms-related deaths increase among Arizona children

In 2016, 5 percent of all child deaths in Arizona involved guns. (Photo by Jim Tuttle/News21)

As the nation continued to grieve the loss of 17 high school students in the Feb. 14 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Cronkite News took a look into how many deaths among Arizona children involve firearms.

According to a 2017 report by the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program, firearms-related fatalities increased by 29 percent from 2015 to 2016. Twelve of the 36 deaths were suicides; 24 were homicides.

Firearms-related deaths accounted for 5 percent of all child deaths in 2016, and the numbers have steadily increased since.

All firearms-related deaths are considered preventable; they make up 11 percent of all preventable deaths in Arizona. More than two-thirds of the guns used were stolen or belonged to parents.

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