Data: Big Stone Gap accidental shooting 35th in the US this year

An advocacy group for gun safety that tracks homicides and deaths attributed to gunfire is reporting 34 fatalities have occurred this year due to accidental use of a gun.

A 35th will be added to the data following the death of a 4-year-old Big Stone Gap boy who picked up a loaded gun in his parents’ bedroom. The group Everytown for Gun Safety reported 70 unintentional shootings just in the month of February with 16 people killed in the US.

Firearm injury continues to be the leading cause of death of children ages 0-18 in the US, according to ACS National Trauma Databank. The Wise County couple face several felony charges related to the child’s death.

Other gun-related stats from the Brady agency:
– Each day, eight (8) children are unintentionally shot or killed
– The Centers for Disease Control says a majority of fatal unintentional shootings with children involve a unlocked and loaded firearm
– 350 of US unintentional shooting each year involve a child pulling the trigger
– States with the highest levels of gun ownership experience an unintentional firearm mortality rate 7 times that of states with the lowest levels of gun ownership
– Unintentional shootings increase during the weeks of special holidays in the US, including the Fourth of July, New Years, Thanksgiving and Christmas

(IMAGE: Property of Pexels / Felipe Jimenez)