During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, increased rates of firearm ownership, school closures, and a suspected decrease in supervision have placed young children at elevated risk of firearm injuries.
Researchers herein investigated trends in firearm injuries in children and inflicted by children discharging a firearm during the pandemic.
In addition, they associated these changes with a rise in firearm acquisition. Multiyear data from the Gun Violence Archive were retrieved for performing this cross-sectional study with an interrupted time series analysis.
Findings revealed an increase in firearm injuries in young children and inflicted by young children during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This highlights the urgent and critical necessity for enactment of interventions aimed at preventing firearm injuries and deaths involving children.
