Statistical bulletin (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company : 1984)
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Firearms claim more than 30,000 lives each year in the United States. In 1988 more than half of these deaths were among ages 1-34, with firearms accounting for 15 percent of all deaths in this age group. Total firearm deaths, as well as firearm homicide rates, have been increasing since 1984, taking a disproportionate toll on America's minority youth. ⋯ Among blacks aged 15-24, the firearm homicide rate was 72.0 per 100,000 during 1986-88 versus 8.1 among white males of this age. Geographic differences also exist, with Texas, California and New York leading in firearm homicides among white males aged 15-24, and Michigan, D. C., and California leading among blacks of this age.