Study Reveals Differences In Firearm-Related Hospitalizations For Children In Rural Versus Urban Areas

By Micah Rate

The findings from a study published by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine are providing new insights into the causes of firearm-related injuries in adolescents under the age of 20. After analyzing data from 2006, 2009, and 2012, researchers found there were 21,581 total hospitalizations for firearm injuries and that “the overall hospitalization rate was higher in urban versus rural areas.”

When researchers took a closer look at the numbers, the causes of those injuries differed between age groups. Children 5-to-9-years-old and 10-to-14-years-old who lived in rural areas had a higher rate of unintentional firearm-injuries than children of the same age living in urban areas. Adolescents 15-to-19-years-old in urban areas had the highest number of firearm-related injuries due to assaults.

Unsurprisingly, the study found that the majority of victims of firearm-related injuries in urban and rural areas are men. And those ages 15-to-19-years-old sustain the most injuries in both urban and rural areas.

The data also breaks down the percentage of firearm-injuries by race and ethnicity, finding that African Americans made up more than 56 percent of firearm-related injuries in urban areas while White Americans made up 71 percent of firearm-related injuries in rural areas.

The study also found …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms