By KELIN DILLON

According to new data released by Mexico’s National System of Public Security (SNSP), there were a total of 627 children murdered by gun violence in Mexico between January and September 2022, an average of two minor deaths per day and an approximately 7 percent higher homicide rate than experienced during the same time period the year previous.

Many of these gun-related children deaths are thought to be perpetrated by Mexico’s organized crime, as many of these illicitly operating groups seemingly pay no mind to whether minors are a victim of their crossfire, ambushes or direct attacks across the country.

In fact, the majority of dead minors were found to be with or nearby to their parents and relatives at the time of their murder, says information from Mexican state authorities.

“There is extreme violence against children and adolescents in Mexico. This expression of violence is already a constant, and the impacts of violence that Mexico is experiencing are touching the lives of girls and boys, not only adults. It is concerning that there is a 6.8 percent increase in murders of minors with firearms,” said Network for the Rights of Children in Mexico (REDIM) director ​​Tania Ramírez.

Ramírez went on to mention that the Mexican states with the most minor deaths by gun violence in 2022 were Guanajuato with 101 cases, Michoacán with 89 cases, and Zacatecas with 68 cases.

According to SNSP data, there’s  been a total of ​​ 9,213 homicides perpetrated against minors throughout the first four years of current Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term, which is shaping up to be one of Mexico’s most violent presidencies in recent history.