Gun injuries sending more Americans, especially kids, to emergency rooms -study

FILE PHOTO: Customers shop for handguns at the Des Moines Fairgrounds Gun Show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. March 11, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

(Reuters) - Emergency rooms in the U.S. saw a significant rise in the number of patients with gun injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on Thursday.

Of all age groups, those between 0–14 years experienced the largest increase in the proportion of gun injury emergency room visits, the study said. About 40 children and young adolescents with gun injuries visited U.S. emergency rooms each week on average in 2022, up from 2019's weekly average of about 29.