Hospital visits of kids hurt by firearms spike

Hospital visits by children injured by firearms rose by nearly 40 percent during 2020, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. The soaring numbers coincided with record increases in gun sales during the pandemic, the researchers said.

The firearm-related visits by children from birth to 18 rose significantly compared to the preceding three years, even as total hospital visits by children declined in 2020, the researchers said.

March 2020 — the month when the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic — saw an increase in firearm-related hospital visits of nearly 15 percent. But by JulyAugust 2020, visits were up by as much as 68 percent. Overall, nearly 800 firearm-related hospital visits occurred in the first six months of the pandemic, up from a median of 570 visits in the preceding three years.