Children’s Defense Fund

The following viewpoint is excerpted from Protect Children Instead of Guns 2000, a report from the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). In it, the CDF details the statistics regarding children and firearm violence. The CDF acknowledges that firearm-related fatalities among children have been declining since the mid-1990s, but maintains that rates of gun violence among children are still staggeringly high. The CDF details the problems of gun homicide, suicide, and accidental injury among children and teenagers, and concludes that new federal gun laws are necessary to protect children from gun violence. The Children’s Defense Fund is a nonprofit organization that works to insure the health and well-being of children.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the CDF, what percentage of children killed...