Post by redheadbaker on Jan 27, 2014 18:49:56 GMT -5
This Friday at 10 pm Eastern, ABC World News is running a special report on children/teens and guns. I saw a preview of it on the evening news tonight. There are some horrifying statistics. One NYC E.R. was seeing a child with an accidental gun injury TWO TIMES A WEEK. 1.7 million children live in a home with an unlocked, loaded firearm.
What I don't fucking understand is that if we were talking about ANY OTHER CONSUMER PRODUCT that caused this much injury and death to children, there would be so much movement to improve or ban or curtail sale of the product either by statute, regulation, or case law.
FOR GOD'S SAKE a few kids tipped over in a BUMBO and those things went through all this hoo ha to improve it.
This Friday at 10 pm Eastern, ABC World News is running a special report on children/teens and guns. I saw a preview of it on the evening news tonight. There are some horrifying statistics. One NYC E.R. was seeing a child with an accidental gun injury TWO TIMES A WEEK. 1.7 million children live in a home with an unlocked, loaded firearm.
Maybe if we, as a country, stopped classifying incidents involving unlocked (or even locked), loaded firearms as "accidents", it would help. Start locking up the owners of said firearms for the "accidents" whether they were present or not.
I know many very pro-gun, pro-second amendment people. Not a single one thinks it is reasonable or responsible to leave a gun loaded. Yes, the sentence ends there.
Post by debatethis on Jan 27, 2014 19:38:50 GMT -5
I know I'm preaching to the choir here but I have mentioned MANY times that the NRA itself says that the proper/safe way to store a gun is locked up, unloaded, clean, and separate from its ammunition. Why, then, is it so hard to get legislation passed to require such things as prerequisites to gun ownership?
Start making homeowners'/renters' insurance policies require gun safes, gun safety courses, and trigger locks. And ditto Velvetshady that irresponsible gun owners need to be locked up. Negligent homicide, not nasty accident, FFS.
The preview showed a young boy point a handgun in his face. It literally made my husband sit up and gasp. To see a little kid look down the barrel of a gun out of sheer curiosity is shocking.
“Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.”
― William Gibson
Victims ages 15 to 19 made up 84% of the children brought to the hospital with gunshot wounds, and two-thirds of those injuries were attributed to assault. Among these older children, roughly 24% of the cases were considered unintentional. Suicide attempts accounted for 239 of 4,143 of those firearm-related hospitalizations.
Among younger children, accidental firearm injuries were most common. Of the 378 children under 10 brought to the hospital in connection with a firearm injury, roughly three-quarters were considered victims of an accidental or unintended shooting. Thirty-one children younger than 5 and 47 ages 5 to 9 were injured in gun-related assaults in 2009.
Yeah, sorry, there's no room in the second amendment for those who argue that they need a loaded, unlocked firearm by their bedside to protect their home from "intruders." The second amendment is explicit about the "well-regulated militia" shit, not "vigilante justice in lieu of law enforcement officers." Sorry.
I come from a home that contained several unloaded, locked firearms, and my dad is pretty adamant that introducing a loaded gun into an intruder situation almost always ends up with... the intruder taking your gun. Congrats, now you have a loaded gun pointed at you.
We do have a loaded gun in our house. In a locked gun safe in its own slot. All other guns are not loaded but most definitely locked in the safe at all times.
What I don't fucking understand is that if we were talking about ANY OTHER CONSUMER PRODUCT that caused this much injury and death to children, there would be so much movement to improve or ban or curtail sale of the product either by statute, regulation, or case law.
FOR GOD'S SAKE a few kids tipped over in a BUMBO and those things went through all this hoo ha to improve it.
FFS. A Bumbo.
Well, to be fair Bumbo ownership is not constitutionally protected.
The preview showed a young boy point a handgun in his face. It literally made my husband sit up and gasp. To see a little kid look down the barrel of a gun out of sheer curiosity is shocking.
And this is why gun safety courses need to be taught along side the drug courses starting in preschool. Small children are curious - at the bare minimum they need to realize that if they see a gun it is not a toy and they need to run and tell an adult ASAP.
The preview showed a young boy point a handgun in his face. It literally made my husband sit up and gasp. To see a little kid look down the barrel of a gun out of sheer curiosity is shocking.
And this is why gun safety courses need to be taught along side the drug courses starting in preschool. Small children are curious - at the bare minimum they need to realize that if they see a gun it is not a toy and they need to run and tell an adult ASAP.
In the preview on ABC World News, they WERE taught a gun safety course (the NRA's) PLUS had a police officer come to school to reinforce what they should do if they found a gun (don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult). Then they hid three unloaded and safety-locked guns in a classroom, had the teacher leave the room and filmed the kids as they found the guns.
And this is why gun safety courses need to be taught along side the drug courses starting in preschool. Small children are curious - at the bare minimum they need to realize that if they see a gun it is not a toy and they need to run and tell an adult ASAP.
In the preview on ABC World News, they WERE taught a gun safety course (the NRA's) PLUS had a police officer come to school to reinforce what they should do if they found a gun (don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult). Then they hid three unloaded and safety-locked guns in a classroom, had the teacher leave the room and filmed the kids as they found the guns.
That's what makes this so scary.
Yep. What are the stats on what parents think vs what kids actually do? There's a wide disconnect.
And this is why gun safety courses need to be taught along side the drug courses starting in preschool. Small children are curious - at the bare minimum they need to realize that if they see a gun it is not a toy and they need to run and tell an adult ASAP.
In the preview on ABC World News, they WERE taught a gun safety course (the NRA's) PLUS had a police officer come to school to reinforce what they should do if they found a gun (don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult). Then they hid three unloaded and safety-locked guns in a classroom, had the teacher leave the room and filmed the kids as they found the guns.
The preview showed a young boy point a handgun in his face. It literally made my husband sit up and gasp. To see a little kid look down the barrel of a gun out of sheer curiosity is shocking.
Hell, my 2 yo isn't allowed to look down the barrel of a Nerf blaster.
The preview showed a young boy point a handgun in his face. It literally made my husband sit up and gasp. To see a little kid look down the barrel of a gun out of sheer curiosity is shocking.
Hell, my 2 yo isn't allowed to look down the barrel of a Nerf blaster.
Yo. "Dont point that* at yourself. Or your brother, anyone else including the cats... Not the tv either!" Is a regular refrain in our house.
*That = the shooting lasso on the invisible jet or the bear ball blaster (heh).
What I don't fucking understand is that if we were talking about ANY OTHER CONSUMER PRODUCT that caused this much injury and death to children, there would be so much movement to improve or ban or curtail sale of the product either by statute, regulation, or case law.
FOR GOD'S SAKE a few kids tipped over in a BUMBO and those things went through all this hoo ha to improve it.
FFS. A Bumbo.
So true. It's disgusting how money and politics can speak louder than these horrifying statistics.
What I don't fucking understand is that if we were talking about ANY OTHER CONSUMER PRODUCT that caused this much injury and death to children, there would be so much movement to improve or ban or curtail sale of the product either by statute, regulation, or case law.
FOR GOD'S SAKE a few kids tipped over in a BUMBO and those things went through all this hoo ha to improve it.
FFS. A Bumbo.
So true. It's disgusting how money and politics can speak louder than these horrifying statistics.