A firearm injury is a gunshot wound or penetrating injury from a weapon that uses a powder charge to fire a projectile, such as a handgun, rifle, or shotgun. Injuries from air- and gas-powered guns, BB guns, and pellet guns are not considered firearm injuries as these weapons do not use a powder charge to fire a projectile. Deaths due to firearms account for more than one-quarter of all injury-related deaths among U.S. children ages 0–19. On average, annually over 4,600 U.S. children die from firearms.1 Firearm injuries are classified as intentionally self-inflicted (suicide), assault (homicide), unintentional (accidental firing without intention), legal intervention (injuries inflicted by the police or other law enforcement agents acting in the line of duty), or undetermined intent.2 See the sidebar for more information on each type of firearm injury.
The Children’s Safety Network has produced this resource guide to provide useful firearm safety resources to help state, jurisdiction, and local health departments and their partners expand and enhance their prevention efforts. This resource guide is divided into five sections: Organizations, Prevention Resources, Legislation, Publications, and Data Sources. The resources included in this guide are not meant to be comprehensive, nor are the listings intended as endorsements.
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [online]. (2025) [2021-2023] Available from URL: https://wisqars.cdc.gov/.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, July 5). Firearm Injury and Death Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/firearm-violence/about/index.html