RALEIGH, N.C. – The grandfather of a girl who was paralyzed by a stray bullet said on Monday it's up to gun owners to keep their firearms out of the wrong hands.
- The juvenile firearm death rate has increased by 59 percent since 2009
- More than 800 children went to emergency rooms with gunshot wounds between 2016 and 2018
- 17 percent of gun owners in 2011 didn’t lock up or unload their firearms
Seven-year-old Miasia Perry is still in rehab after a September drive-by shooting in Spring Hope put her in a wheelchair. Her grandfather, Elton Andrews, said she’s getting used to navigating her school while using it.
State data shows Perry is younger than most juvenile victims of gun violence, but she’s not alone. On Monday, state epidemiologist Scott Proescholdbell told a subcommittee of the Child Fatality Task Force that roughly 855 children in North Carolina, ages 17 and under, went to emergency rooms with firearm-related injuries between 2016 and 2018.
About 154 children died from gunshot wounds during the same period. Proescholdbell said for children ages 17 and under, handguns accounted for 88 percent of firearm deaths, compared to 76 percent for the overall population of the state. Overall, the rate of firearm-related fatalities for juveniles in North Carolina rose by 59 percent between 2009 and 2018.
Proescholdbell said a state survey in 2011 found roughly 62 percent of gun owners don’t use gun or trigger locks, and about 17 percent of adults leave their guns loaded and unlocked. Andrews said anyone who owns a firearm plays a role in reducing the number of children killed and wounded.
“You own a gun, use it responsibly, keep it locked away from other people that shouldn’t use it,” he said.
The committee has previously recommended more state funding for gun lock distribution programs. The panel made no recommendations on that issue Monday, but members said the full Child Fatality Task Force might make recommendations for this year when it convenes beginning next month.
