More teens, children falling victim to gun violence
ST. LOUIS — Gun violence is killing an increasing number of American children, from toddlers caught in crossfires to teenagers gunned down in turf wars, drug squabbles or for posting the wrong thing on social media.
Shootings involving children and teenagers have been on the rise in recent years, and 2021 is no exception. Experts say idleness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic shares the blame with easy access to guns and disputes that too often end with gunfire.
LeGend Taliferro, a 4-year-old boy who loved dinosaurs and basketball, was sleeping on the floor in an apartment in Kansas City, Mo., when he was shot on June 29, 2020. A man who had been involved in a dispute with LeGend’s father is awaiting trial for second-degree murder.
“Why do we have to resort to violence because we’re mad?” LeGend’s mother, Charron Powell, asks. “What are other ways we can figure out an issue without harming somebody?”
The U.S. saw 991 gun violence deaths among people 17 or younger in 2019, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings from more than 7,500 law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources. The number hit 1,375 in 2020 and this year is on pace to be worse.
FBI data backs that up. The agency released a report on Sept. 28 showing homicides in the U.S. increased nearly 30% in 2020, and homicides among people ages 19 and younger rose more than 21%.
The Rev. Starsky Wilson, president and CEO of Children’s Defense Fund, said a spike in gun sales during the pandemic has made things worse.
“There are more guns available on the street and there are folks with less opportunity to engage in productive activity,” Wilson said. “A combination of those two is really challenging.”
The Justice Department sought to address the violence through “Operation Legend,” named for LeGend Taliferro. His mother takes comfort in the fact that her son’s death helped spur a national effort that resulted in hundreds of arrests. Still, the pain never goes away.
“It’s really a mental battle to get through every day,” Powell said.