Gun injuries are a growing problem for Florida’s children, rising along with the increasing availability of firearms across the state, according to a special report in the Tampa Bay Times.
The newspaper reported that it looked at millions of hospital discharge records for patients across Florida, plus data collected by the state’s 24 medical examiners.
The analysis found that, between 2010 and 2015, nearly 3,200 children age 17 and younger were killed or injured by firearms. On average, a child in Florida was shot every 17 hours.
From 2010 through 2015, the number of youths killed in gun-related incidents rose nearly 20 percent, according to the report. Injuries from guns jumped 26 percent from 2014 to 2015.
