WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Guns were the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the United States in 2020, according to a study by Ann Arbor University researchers.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun violence surpassed that of car accidents as the leading cause of death for Americans aged 19 and younger in 2020. This analysis is based upon recent data on mortality from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the study published as a letter of the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, this is the first instance that guns are the leading cause of death among the age group.

Between 2019 and 2020, the number of firearm-related suicides, homicides, unintentional and undetermined deaths among children and teens increased by 29.5%, more than twice that of the general population. This was according to Jason E. Goldstick and Rebecca M. Cunningham and Patrick M. Carter.

The researchers stated that although the data were consistent with evidence of firearm violence increasing during the COVID-19 Pandemic, it was not known why. They also noted that the reason for this increase is unclear and that there cannot be any assumption that firearm-related death will return to its preandemic level.

The authors added, “But the growing firearm-related death rate reflects a longer-term trend” and showed that they were failing to prevent youth deaths from preventable causes.

Gun control group Everytown for Gun Violence reported that road deaths in the United States also increased during this pandemic.