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Firearm Violence in the Pediatric Population: An International Perspective

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Pediatric Firearm Injuries and Fatalities

Abstract

Firearm injuries are a serious public health problem for children and adolescents in the United States and even more of a problem in some low- and middle-income countries. A number of countries in Central and South America report extremely high rates of firearm death, though data in these countries are less reliable than data from high-income countries. Globally, there were more firearm homicides than firearm suicides among those 0–24 years old in 2016. Among high-income countries, the United States has the highest pediatric firearm death rates. It appears that a main reason for our relatively high firearm death rate is widespread firearm availability. Unfortunately, pediatric firearm injury prevention is still a topic about which little is known, not only for low- and middle-income countries but also for high-income nations. More research is needed on risk and protective factors specific to children and adolescents, and better data are needed especially for nonfatal gun injuries.

Mexico’s child vigilantes: The indigenous people of Ayahualtempa are arming their children. Is it for self-defense, or to get attention?

By Kevin Sieff

February 7, 2020. The Washington Post

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Professions Department, School of Nursing and Health Professions, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Erin Grinshteyn

  2. Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    David Hemenway

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  1. Erin Grinshteyn
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  2. David Hemenway
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Correspondence to Erin Grinshteyn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Lois K. Lee

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Eric W. Fleegler

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Grinshteyn, E., Hemenway, D. (2021). Firearm Violence in the Pediatric Population: An International Perspective. In: Lee, L.K., Fleegler, E.W. (eds) Pediatric Firearm Injuries and Fatalities . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62245-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62245-9_6

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-62245-9

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