Based on the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearms are not the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 17 – motor vehicles are.
Firearm deaths listed under the CDC’s data category “Unintentional Injury,” shows that out of 4,552 deaths of children between the ages of 1 and 17, motor vehicles accounted for 2,159 of those deaths. Drownings accounted for 753, poisoning accounted for 502, suffocation accounted for 212, fires accounted for 204, transport accounted for 152 and firearms accounted for 120.
Under the “Homicide” category, firearms accounted for 1,366 deaths, and when added up with firearm deaths considered unintentional, the total number of deaths by firearm for children between 1 and 17 years of age is 1,518 – 641 less than motor vehicle deaths of the same age bracket.