Youth gun deaths rise in states that relaxed laws
Mark Wilson/Getty Images Nation & World Youth gun deaths rise in states that relaxed laws Study compares child mortality rates before and after 2010 Supreme Court ruling Mass General Brigham Communications June 9, 2025 2 min read Child gun deaths have surged since a 2010 Supreme Court ruling led some state and local governments to relax their firearm laws, according to a new Mass General Brigham study. Guns are the leading cause of death for youth in the U.S. but little is known about how firearm laws affect child mortality rates. To investigate, researchers looked at whether gun deaths among youth had changed in the years following a Supreme Court ruling that applied the Second Amendment to state and local governments. They found in states with the most permissive laws evidence of 6,029 more child deaths due to firearms than would have been expected based on the existing demographic trends — and more than 1,400 excess deaths in states...