Motor vehicles are currently the leading cause of deaths for people aged 15 to 24, but may not be for long.
With the rates dropping seven times faster than the rate of deaths by gunfire, the top spot is likely to change in 2015, according to a report by the Center for American Progress.
Every 70 minutes, one American under the age of 25 is killed by gunfire, the report said. It also stated that homicide is the leading form of gun death.
The Gainesville community has differing opinions on gun control.
Chase Summers, owner of Main Street Jewelry and Loans, said the gun culture is fine for responsible gun owners. The death rate is due to laziness, lack of safety education, mental illness and black market gun sales, he said.
He said he can refuse sale to anyone he deems mentally unfit to own a gun, and he works with law enforcement on stolen-gun cases.
He also said he believes incidents like the recent shooting of 16-year-old Damien Kornegay in White Springs, Florida, are preventable with modern firearm safeguards, like integrated locking systems.
“Obviously common sense tells you if you have children in the house you want to secure your firearm,” Summers said.
Above the shop’s wall of guns is the Youth Handgun Safety Act, a document prohibiting the sale of handguns to minors. Federal law requires a minimum age of 21 to purchase handguns and 18 for long guns from a federally licensed dealer.
Joshua Roe, a 33-year-old UF graduate student and president of Students for Concealed Carry, said he wishes for a more compassionate culture, but a solution isn’t that simple.
“Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe sitting around the campfire singing ‘Kumbaya’ won’t work,” Roe said.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 1/12/2015 under the headline “2015: Guns could kill more than cars"]
A sign outside of Best Jewelry and Loan, on 523 NW 3rd Ave, advertises guns for sale. Violent crime in America is receding, but gun violence remains relatively stable. Someone under the age of 25 is killed from gunfire every 70 minutes, according to a report by the Center for American Progress.
