Firearms have risen to become the leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States in recent years, but a new study joins a growing set of evidence that gun laws can make a difference.

A landmark Supreme Court case in 2010 – McDonald v. Chicago – ruled that the Second Amendment applies to local governments, leading to a flurry of new laws and a deeper divide in state policy around firearms, with some states tightening restrictions and others weakening gun-related laws.

Over the next 13 years, thousands more children died from firearm violence than earlier trends would have predicted – and all of the increase happened in groups of states that had more permissive gun laws, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

Researchers grouped states into three c

See Full Page