INCREASED YOUTH VIOLENCE ADDS TO HEALTH CARE COSTS AND NEEDLESS LONG-TERM HUMAN TRAUMA

The facts are in: physical trauma is the principal cause of death among Americans between the ages of 1 and 38. Approximately 165,000 people die each year and more than $87 billion per year is spent as a result of traumatic injuries. Primarily, these injuries are gunshot wounds, stabbing and beatings. Gunshot wounds are the fifth leading cause of accidental death for children under the age of 14 in this country. Some 5,356 people under the age of 19 were killed by guns in 1991, or 15 youths a day, say government statistics. And, according to a survey of children's hospitals across the country, it costs more than $14,000 to treat each child struck down by gunfire -- enough to pay for a full year of college tuition.