'100 children a year accidentally shot'

[questionmark]

The tragedy of children killed accidentally by guns in the US is laid bare in new research that shows that as many as 100 boys and girls aged 14 and under are dying each year, substantially more than federal statistics have previously suggested.

Everytown and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America – affiliated groups that campaign for stronger gun laws – have studied the incidents of publicly reported unintentional gun deaths involving children in the period of a year from 15 December 2012 to 14 December 2013. The report exposes a long list of lives cut short as a result of largely preventable calamities.

Like the one that befell two-year-old Sincere Smith in Conway, South Carolina, who was relaxing after a heavy meal of chicken and mac and cheese on Christmas day when he spotted an object on the living room table. It was a .38-caliber handgun that his father had bought two weeks before and had left on the table while he went to make a phone call. Sincere picked it up and fired a single shot through his own chest; he died en route to hospital.

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[Sweetpumper]

100? That's it? I thought it'd be a hell of a lot more than that.

Great news!

[CuriousRey]

Such a disheartening thing to read, I don't own a firearm and probably never will. My boy just turned a year old on 05/21 and if anything were ever to happen to him due to my negligence especially with that of a firearm I would never forgive myself, I cannot imagine how the parents feel losing their child to a situation that was caused by them. The thought alone terrifies me, before I became a father I was inquiring about my concealed weapons permit so that I could carry a firearm in case I were to ever encounter a situation that required my assistance. Now, after becoming a father I can't fathom the loss of my son especially due to this reason.

[Eldorado]

100? That's it? I thought it'd be a hell of a lot more than that.

Great news!

Are you mentally deranged?

[DeWitz]

Any reference to groups advocating stronger gun control will be visited upon by 2nd Amendment defenders and others who support responsible gun ownership. It's a nonstop carousel of debate, and no one study, scenario or set of statistics is about to have much effect, in my cynical opinion.

[Sweetpumper]

Are you mentally deranged?

Not even a little. I just thought it would be a hell of a lot more, like I said. I can imagine the stats out there of other things that kill a ton more kids a year than that.

[questionmark]

Not even a little. I just thought it would be a hell of a lot more, like I said. I can imagine the stats out there of other things that kill a ton more kids a year than that.

I guess me too, but if you would have bothered to push the link to the study you would have seen that most of those deaths were perfectly avoidable. And there my knowledge of other causes of death kind of escapes me.

[Sweetpumper]

I guess me too, but if you would have bothered to push the link to the study you would have seen that most of those deaths were perfectly avoidable.

And there my knowledge of other causes of death kind of escapes me.

That's why they're called 'accidents'.

Cars, playground equipment, cribs...the list I'm sure goes on.

[+and-then]

I guess me too, but if you would have bothered to push the link to the study you would have seen that most of those deaths were perfectly avoidable. And there my knowledge of other causes of death kind of escapes me.

Each and every one is a horrible tragedy. The only answer I can think of is to make it an even worse tragedy for the family by incarcerating the careless parent or sibling or other family member. Guns are a part of the fabric of our country and rather than demonizing them - as so many do - it makes more sense to actually teach gun safety in public schools just as the use of condoms and birth control are taught. I will never forget a firearms safety class I attended in High School. The two guys who were from the NRA were explaining rules of gun safety while handling a shotgun. They had JUST said to NEVER take a gun from anyone without that person first opening it to display that it was safely unloaded and within seconds they quickly handed the shotgun to an audience member. The kid felt as though he HAD to take the gun because this instructor practically put it in his hands - I saw it coming the instructor let the gun slip at last second, it hit the floor and discharged confetti with a very loud bang. Even silly little classes like that can make a memory that lasts for decades... TRAIN kids how to be safe with them. LOCK them up when children are going to be near them unsupervised. Treat them with the respect you'd treat any other deadly object and even then accidents will happen - but maybe they won't be fatal. I've been around and enjoyed firearms my whole life - since I was about 12. This new year's eve I took a little.380 Ruger semi auto out on the front porch (I live in a very rural area) and made some noise at the stroke of midnight. Unfortunately some of the noise was me cursing because I mishandled the darned thing and nearly broke my thumb when the slide cut across it. Accidents happen. Deadly accidents can mostly be avoided with proper training and respect.

[Alaric]

55 teenagers (or younger) shot in Chicago in the last month alone:

http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago/shootings

Perhaps they need more gun control laws...

[aztek]

In 2011, 226 children were killed in drunk driving crashes. Of those, 122 (54% percent) were riding with the drunk driver

- See more at: http://www.madd.org/statistics/#sthash.ehKP5Jeg.dpuf

every single deaths was avoidable, if driver did not drink.

[Alaric]

Some would have us give up a constitutionally protected right, "for the children", yet they have nothing to say about a killer 100 times more deadly than guns...

http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2001/07/27/levittpoolsvsguns/

What’s more dangerous: a swimming pool or a gun? When it comes to children, there is no comparison: a swimming pool is 100 times more deadly.

In 1997 alone (the last year for which data are available), 742 children under the age of 10 drowned in the United States last year alone. Approximately 550 of those drownings — about 75 percent of the total — occurred in residential swimming pools. According to the most recent statistics, there are about six million residential pools, meaning that one young child drowns annually for every 11,000 pools.

About 175 children under the age of 10 died in 1998 as a result of guns. About two-thirds of those deaths were homicides. There are an estimated 200 million guns in the United States. Doing the math, there is roughly one child killed by guns for every one million guns.

Thus, on average, if you both own a gun and have a swimming pool in the backyard, the swimming pool is about 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun is.

[+Hammerclaw]

Whether you're for or against gun control, I think we can all agree on one thing. There are people too careless, dangerous and down right stupid to be allowed to own a gun.

[Professor Buzzkill]

Whether you're for or against gun control, I think we can all agree on one thing. There are people too careless, dangerous and down right stupid to be allowed to own a gun.

but who makes that distinction?

[+Hammerclaw]

but who makes that distinction?

A jury of their peers, usually, after they've been careless, dangerous, stupid or all three.

[Harte]

That's why they're called 'accidents'.

Cars, playground equipment, cribs...the list I'm sure goes on.

CDC:

Every day, over 300 children in the United States ages 0 to 19 are treated in an emergency department, and two children die, as a result of being poisoned.

EDIT: Forgot to link it.

Harte

Edited June 26, 2014 by Harte

[Thanato]

I am the father to a 19 month old boy. I have 6 firearms in the house. They are all locked up in a gun locker and are disabled with trigger or cable locks. The ammo is locked up in a separate container. I will introduce him to firearms in a few years but wont let him hold one until I know he is ready.

[Yamato]

A jury of their peers, usually, after they've been careless, dangerous, stupid or all three.

Or, after they haven't. Else there is no distinction.

[Rafterman]

Child accidentally killed with a firearm - national story, Bloomberg front groups blast all over social media

Child drowns in pool - brief mention on 6 o'clock local news

Child dies of accidental poisoning - probably not even news worthy

If all other child deaths were covered with the zeal of gun deaths, folks would be taking down play sets, throwing bicycles away, filling in pools, pouring chemicals down sinks, and not ever letting their children leave their newly padded play room (with no toys in it because they're dangerous too).

If these "moms" were really about child safety, they should be focusing on things like properly installed car seats.

[+Hammerclaw]

Or, after they haven't. Else there is no distinction.

What?

[CuriousRey]

I really do appreciate everyone's opinion in this thread, and I in no way advocate removing someones rights to owning a firearm or multiple firearms for their safety. As a few posters have already stated, if you can instill proper education of gun safety in your child and always keep your firearms locked up somewhere where the child can never get to it then by all means do so. It is not something I am willing to risk because I could not live with the repurcussions of an accident, and I hate to make assumptions but I would imagine that a lot of these cases are due to negligence. The individual who brought up the pools being more deadly, I can absolutely see a majority of these cases being negligence as well, so I think it falls more into the hands of the parents than anything. So if you are well versed with the safety of firearms and you instill that same knowledge in your children than more power to you, as for me I've never taken a firearm safety course and have never handled a firearm, I also have no interest in doing so. So in closing, my only advice is to parents out there, keep an eye on your children, know what they're doing and educate them in the ways of the world. If my son ever does show curiosity in firearms then you can be sure i'll be taking him to a firearm safety course and i'll go through it right along side him as that is my duty in life.

[Rafterman]

I really do appreciate everyone's opinion in this thread, and I in no way advocate removing someones rights to owning a firearm or multiple firearms for their safety. As a few posters have already stated, if you can instill proper education of gun safety in your child and always keep your firearms locked up somewhere where the child can never get to it then by all means do so. It is not something I am willing to risk because I could not live with the repurcussions of an accident, and I hate to make assumptions but I would imagine that a lot of these cases are due to negligence. The individual who brought up the pools being more deadly, I can absolutely see a majority of these cases being negligence as well, so I think it falls more into the hands of the parents than anything. So if you are well versed with the safety of firearms and you instill that same knowledge in your children than more power to you, as for me I've never taken a firearm safety course and have never handled a firearm, I also have no interest in doing so. So in closing, my only advice is to parents out there, keep an eye on your children, know what they're doing and educate them in the ways of the world. If my son ever does show curiosity in firearms then you can be sure i'll be taking him to a firearm safety course and i'll go through it right along side him as that is my duty in life.

You are correct in that almost all of these accidents are due to negligence - as are most accidents.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to legislate away stupidity.

[Sweetpumper]

We could just pass a law that bans accidents.

[+Hammerclaw]

I can't think of a particularly valid reason why owning and operating a firearm should be less regulated than owning and operating an automobile. Both kill people but the former is actually designed to. Automobiles Don't Kill People--People Do--sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?

[g00dfella]

sad