GUNS KILLING U.S. TEENS AT RECORD RATE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 24, 1993                   TAG: 9303240158
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
GUNS KILLING U.S. TEENS AT RECORD RATE
The nation recorded a tragic new milestone Tuesday: Guns are killing U.S. teen-agers at the highest rate since the government began keeping count 30 years ago.
In 1990, guns killed 4,173 youths ages 15 to 19, about 11 every day, according to a new government study. That's up from 2,498 deaths in that age group in 1985, a 67 percent increase. Only vehicles kill more teens, nearly 6,000 in 1990.
Black males still face the greatest risk, but increasingly the victims are white and younger, the study showed.
Behind the problem, injury experts say, is an increasingly violent society in which children carry guns not only to commit crimes but also to resolve conflicts that once ended with fistfights. The Justice Department estimates that 100,000 children carry guns to school every day.
Keywords:
FATALITY

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB