U.S. pediatricians Thursday called for the strictest possible regulation of gun sales, as well as more education for parents on the dangers of having a gun at home, to pre-vent deaths of kids and teens.
In a policy statement published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers representing the American Academy of Pediatrics said the number of gun-related deaths in youth has dropped nationally since the mid-1990s, but is still many times higher than rates in other wealthy countries.
The report was released to coincide with the AAP National Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans.
Its most important purpose, according to co-lead author Dr. Robert Sege from Boston Medical Center, is to reiterate that kids and teens are at risk if they have access to guns.
"Most children who get injured or killed from firearms get their firearms from home," he said.
"There's new, better data that although the safest home for children is a home without guns, that parents can protect their child simply by keeping a gun unloaded and locked, with the ammunition locked separately," Sege said.
The AAP's Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention executive committee found that as of 2009, between 11 and 12 of every 100,000 older teens were being killed every year by gunshots. About two-thirds of those were homicides, with suicides and accidental deaths accounting for the rest.
Guns were responsible for almost 85 per cent of all teen homicides that year, the researchers added. They were also the most common method of teen suicide.
The high death rate in suicide attempts using guns - compared to pills or sharp objects - makes at-home access to firearms especially dangerous for impulsive teens, according to the pediatrician group.
The AAP committee also called for restoration of a U.S. ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. President Barack Obama suggested at a presidential debate earlier this week that he would renew a ban on assault weapons - a position not backed by Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
