Over 500 Children Killed Every Year from Gunshots

In just 12 years, the number of US children and teenagers who die after suffering from gun shot wounds - either intentionally or by accident - has risen a whopping 80 percent to 500 children each year, according to new study released Sunday.

Some 7,500 children are injured and hospitalized every year. These figures have been presented by two Boston doctors at a conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics, held in Orlando, Fla, according to UPI.

"Handguns account for the majority of childhood gunshot wounds and this number appears to be increasing over the last decade," said Dr. Arin L. Madenci, a surgical resident at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and one of the study's two authors. "Furthermore, states with higher percentages of household firearm ownership also tended to have higher proportions of childhood gunshot wounds, especially those occurring in the home."

The study was conducted by Madenci, and his colleague, Dr. Christopher Weldon, a surgeon at Boston Children's Hospital. Both looked at the database of more than 36 million pediatric hospitalizations from 1997 to 2009.

During that same time frame, hospitalizations of children and teens aged 20 and younger from gunshot wounds increased from 4,270 to 7,730. Firearm deaths of children logged by hospitals rose from 317 in 1997 to 503 in 2009, records showed.

The researchers say the best way to reduce the number of child deaths and injuries from gunshot wounds is lower the availability of household firearms, especially handguns as they were the leading weapon used in these injuries and deaths.