SAN ANTONIO — The new numbers about gun deaths among children are startling according to Pew research. The numbers say deaths of children due to firearms rose 50 percent in just two years from 2019 to 2021.
In the report, that actually equates to about 800 more deaths, most of them being kids closer to their upper teen years. It's also said one in 25 kids will not make it to their 40th birthday.
Edwin Walker from the Walker and Taylor Law Firm told us, "Every death is a tragedy. Nobody wants to be, you know, die by accident. Nobody. You know, we all feel sympathy for people who take their own lives."
Edwin Walker is a gun law expert. He says even though the numbers may be going up, that shouldn't affect an individual's right to own a firearm.
Walker said, "While I have my deepest sympathy for anybody who is affected by this, in the broad scheme of things, I don't know that it's enough to justify taking away an individual's right to a right to self-defense."
Here in the U.S. more children and teens were killed by guns in 2021 than any year since 1999. 60 percent of children and teens killed by gunfire, mostly older teens, are a result of a homicide, which is the opposite of adults where the majority of gun deaths are suicide.
Overall in the U.S. there were 48,830 gun deaths among Americans in 2021, which is up 23 percent from 2019 and the highest yearly total on record.
Walker says a big chunk of the responsibility lies with the parents. He said, "Every time you hear about a kid taking a gun to school or a kid accidentally shooting his friend or him, there has been an underlying crime done by an otherwise supposedly responsible adult that has led to that."
Other figures also found America's life expectancy dropped from 79 years old in 2019 to 76 years old in 2021. The big reasons being the pandemic, gun violence and drug overdoses. That's much lower than a life expectancy of 80 years old in England and 83 years old in Australia.
Walker says when it comes to reports about gun deaths like this one, you really need to understand the numbers and why they're being put out the way they are.
Walker said, "Whenever a report like this comes out, I think that while it does try to put these on the air of nonpartisanship, whenever you dig down deep, it's it's certainly going to be used in a partisan way."
Another Pew survey found 45 percent of U.S. parents were extremely worried about their kids getting shot.