Toddlers have shot at least 23 people in 2016

In most cases, children have accidentally shot themselves.

A semi-automatic handgun is shown at the 2015 NRA Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee on April 10, 2015. (Karen Bleier/Getty)

Toddlers are shooting themselves or their parents at an accelerated rate in 2016, The Washington Post reports, and have shot at least 23 people this year alone.

The analysis says that in 2015, over the same period of time, young children were shooting people once a week.

In most cases, children have accidentally shot themselves, and of the 18 reported shootings reported last year, nine toddlers have died from their wounds.

At least seven shootings by 1, 2 and 3-year-olds were reported in April, the report found. Georgia has the highest number of shootings in the country with eight since January 2015.

Texas and Missouri both have seven shootings each, following are Florida and Michigan with six shootings each.

Everytown For Gun Safety, the gun control advocacy group, has found 77 instances where children younger than 18-years-old has accidentally shot someone.

The Republican-controlled Congress has prevented studies from being conducted on how guns affect Americans, so reasons for why the uptick in toddler-involved shootings can only be examined on a case-by-case basis.