The sad truth behind accidental shootings of children

The family of a playful, bright 3-year-old boy called Amir, who accidentally shot himself with a gun in Collierville, Tennessee, are warning other parents to be vigilant in protecting their children around weapons.

The death of the much-loved toddler occurred last month when he was in a vehicle with family members and found the weapon and shot himself. He was taken to hospital, but later died from his injuries.

Amir's family described him as "a fun, loving and rambunctious kid" on a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for his funeral.

"This event has completely turned our lives upside down," his aunt Pypher wrote on the site. "It was never imaginable and something that we pray that no other family had to experience."

Amir is just one of many children in the United States who have died from an accidental shooting while playing around with a gun at home that has not been stored properly.

The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio carried out research into the incidents and found that the gun used by a child or teen was loaded and unlocked in 90 percent of cases.

They looked at cases spanning a decade involving children under the age of 15 who had accidentally killed themselves or another child with a gun. Most of the shootings occurred at the child's home, with a gun that was owned by an older relative or parent.

Between 2009 to 2018 in 33 states, at least 279 cases involved a child aged under 15 that accidentally killed themselves with a gun. In most incidents, the children mistook the weapon for a toy or were just playing with it when it went off, the research showed.

Approximately 4.6 million children and teenagers live in a home with a loaded, unlocked firearm, the 2021 National Firearm Survey found.

"These results indicate that children are accessing firearms at a home — often their own home — and many of these firearms are not stored safely, even when there are young children in the home. Children are accessing firearms belonging to other relatives, not just their parents," Nicole Michaels, senior author of the study and principal investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy, said in a statement.

Loaded and unlocked

Up until May 26, there were 120 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 54 deaths and 77 injuries, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety.

Altogether, guns were left with bullets in them and unlocked in 92 percent of all shootings that have taken place among young children, the study found.

About 40 percent of gun deaths involved children aged between 2 to 4, who had unintentionally discovered the weapon and killed themselves or another child.

Those who pulled the trigger and their victims were overwhelmingly boys.

Children under the age of 5 accidentally shot and killed themselves in 8 out of 10 cases.

Among children aged from 10 to 14, a third of accidental shootings were carried out by the victim's friends.

A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions found that the leading cause of death for teenagers and children aged 1 to 19 were gun-related in 2021. At least 4,733 young people died from gun-related injuries in 2021.

"When young people are shot and killed, they lose decades of potential: The potential to grow up, have a family, contribute to society, and pursue their passions in life," the Johns Hopkins researchers said.