Overview

• A JAMA Pediatrics study finds more than 7,400 excess child firearm deaths in states that relaxed gun laws from 2011 to 2023.
• States with the strictest firearm regulations recorded no significant increase in pediatric gun fatalities during the same period.
• Researchers employed excess mortality analysis comparing actual deaths from 2011–2023 with projections based on 1999–2010 trends to isolate the impact of law changes.
• Black children experienced the steepest rise in firearm deaths, with unsafe storage and community violence disparities cited as contributing factors.
• The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision to extend Second Amendment protections to states prompted widespread relaxation of access rules prior to the rise in fatalities.