Accidental shootings kill, injure children in Alaska

Alaska led the nation with the highest per capita rate of accidental shootings of children over a recent 2 1/2 -year period.

That’s according to a joint investigation by The Associated Press and the USA Today Network that counted 14 unintentional shootings that killed five children and injured nine others in the gun-friendly state.

The investigation used data collected nationwide by the nonpartisan research group, Gun Violence Archive, to examine more than 1,000 fatal and injury incidents from accidental shootings involving children under 18 between Jan. 1, 2014, through June of this year.

Alaska’s population of less than 740,000 and those 14 shootings gave it a rate of nearly 19 per million people.

The state was trailed by Louisiana then South Dakota with rates just below 10. In comparison, the national rate was 3.39 per million.

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