Canada rates poorly in gun-related child deaths

Firearms are a leading cause of death among youth aged 15 to 24 in Canada. Between 1991 and 1995, gun-related deaths and injuries claimed more than 250 young lives and caused more than 100 to be hospitalized. The rates of firearms deaths among youth vary widely among provinces and territories, rising in direct proportion to the number of homes with guns.

Forty-three per cent of gun-related child deaths in Canada are unintentional, 17 per cent are homicide, 35 per cent are suicide, and four per cent are undetermined. Approximately one in 11 child homicides in Canada are committed with a firearm, as are one in four suicides.

Canada, which has stricter controls on firearms than the United States, also has a rate of gun-related child deaths that is four times lower B 0.4 per 100,000 population, compared to 1.6 per 100,000 in the U.S. However, an international study of 26 developed countries showed that firearms-related child deaths are higher in Canada than in 21 of the other countries. Only the United States, Finland, Northern Ireland and Israel had higher rates than Canada, bolstering the call by public health and safety groups for stricter firearms legislation here.

Public health professionals have pointed out that gun-related child deaths are preventable. Such groups call for improved regulations, education and changes in weapon design as ways to reduce the number of child deaths due to firearms.

Reprinted with permission from The Progress of Canada's Children 1998, Canadian Council on Social Development

To order copies of The Progress of Canada=s Children 1998 (72 pp., $10 plus $3.50 shipping/handling) contact: CCSD Publications, 441 MacLaren, 4^th Floor, Ottawa ON K2P 2H3. Tel: (613) 236-8977; Fax: (613) 236-2750; E-mail: publications@ccsd.ca

Return to top of page