Unintentional firearm injuries
Overview
Unintentional shootings are when a person is shot by a firearm without any evidence that it was on purpose.
Unintentional shootings can be self-inflicted or inflicted by others and can be fatal or nonfatal. They may occur in many situations, such as when someone hunts, loads or cleans a firearm, wrongly thinks a firearm is unloaded, mistakes a firearm for a toy, or has not been properly trained.
Unintentional shootings primarily affect children and usually result in injury rather than death. The risk is higher when children are more likely to be at home, such as on the weekend or during school closures. Other factors that increase risk of firearm-related harms include when an individual has cognitive or memory impairments, or drinks alcohol or uses other substances that affect mental abilities.
In Colorado
- Between 2006 and 2023, there were 88 unintentional firearm deaths in Colorado. Of these, 85% were male, 84% were white, and 34% were under the age of 19.
- There were an additional 2,948 emergency department visits mentioning unintentional firearm injuries in Colorado from 2019 to 2023. Of these, 86% were males and 17% were under the age of 19.
- Moreover, many Coloradans report being affected by these injuries. In 2023 6% of adults said they had a family member or close friend who had ever experienced an unintentional shooting. In 2023, 47% of adults in Colorado said they were worried about unintentional shootings among youths in their community.
- In 2021, nearly 1 in 3 (32%) youths in Colorado said they could access a loaded firearm without an adult’s permission, suggesting that many young people are at higher risk for unintentional shootings.
Prevention and intervention
Unintentional shootings can be prevented by addressing the needs of individuals and the community circumstances that lead to them. For more information on these strategies, refer to the secure firearm storage, out-of-home firearm storage, lethal means safety counseling, and firearm business partnerships webpages.
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