Posted on 08/02/2008 4:43:38 AM PDT by marktwain
This week, a toddler fatally shot himself after finding a gun in his parent's car. According to Jackson, Miss., authorities, the 3-year-old was sitting in the car at a gas station when he found the gun in the front seat and shot himself in the face. Police questioned the boy's parents, but no charges have been filed.
But these aren't freak accidents. More than 500 children die annually from accidental gunshots. Some shoot themselves, while others kill friends or siblings after discovering a gun.
Here are more scary stats: Americans own 200 million firearms, and 35 percent of homes contain at least one gun. Last year, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 1.7 million children live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns.
And if you do own a gun and think your kid won't get to it, listen to this: A recent study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found 39 percent of kids knew where their parent's guns were stored, while 22 percent said they had handled the weapons despite adult's warnings to stay away. What's more, age was not a factor in whether children had played with the guns -- 5-year-olds were just as likely to report doing so as 14-year-olds.
Here are just a few heartbreaking cases:
-On July 19, 4-year-old Dylan Jackson shot himself to death after finding a loaded gun at a friend's home during a birthday party.
- A 3-year-old Southeast Washington boy shot himself in the foot and grazed his hand while playing with his father's gun -- which he found lying on the floor.
- A 2-year-old Tampa boy shot himself in the chest with a loaded 9 mm he found in his parent's couch while playing.
- Last February, a 13-year-old boy shot himself with a semiautomatic handgun in the home of his guardian, a Maryland police officer.
- The 10-year-old son of a New York City police officer died after shooting himself in the face with his father's loaded revolver. The boy found the weapon on a shelf in the basement while looking for a ball his mom had hidden.
Is there a way to stop these senseless deaths?
The NRA (National Rifle Association) sponsors classes that teach children if they find a gun to leave the area and inform an adult, but studies show kids who take these classes are no less likely to play with guns than kids who don't attend class.
"The biggest mistake parents make is assuming their child doesn't know where the gun in the house is," says Matthew Miller, associate director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. "Kids are smart and if they know there's a firearm in the house, they'll probably figure out a way to get to it."
"We can't expect children to act like adults," he adds. "Parents monitor their kid's diet, curfew, and social life but when it comes to guns, parents often just say, 'Respect the gun, it's off limits' or 'Guns are dangerous.' That type of parenting just doesn't work."
So should parents not tell kids if there's a gun in the home? "First, you have to weigh whether or not you really need a weapon," says Miller. "Do the benefits outweigh the risks? If the answer is yes, you must take safety precautions."
"Be honest with your children," says Miller. "Tell them there is a firearm in the home but explicitly explain that guns are fatal, no matter how children handle them. Don't keep the gun loaded and store the ammunition in a locked safe and carry the key with you at all times. Also, don't hide the combination and don't give it an obvious numerical password."
"The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends pediatricians ask parents about guns in their home in an effort called 'Anticipatory Guidance' which attempts to keep children safe in cars, on bikes, and around swimming pools," says Miller. "It's rare that doctors initiate this conversation, but they should."
"Also, ask the parents of your children's friends if they keep guns at home and if kids will be playing where they're stored," added Miller. "Don't worry about appearing intrusive. It's better to seem pushy and be safe."
Do you think parents should keep guns in their home with children present?
Here we go again.
My niece,who's a pediatric nurse,says that this is SOP in pediatrics now.
That should be grounds for walking out of their practice as well as filing a official complaint
“Almost three times as many children under 10 die from accidental drowning each year. Maybe we should outlaw swimming pools first?”
As a proud member of the BOO of B, I have to agree.
Registered swimming pools, pool safety guidelines and regulations, a ‘buy back’ pool program, pool cameras to issue fines [and for peeping toms], and pool police. We need pool safety belts, pool air bags, pool helmets, pool ejector seats, and an agency for pool safety. We MUST ban cell phones— not within three miles of any pool. Last but not least— higher pool taxes and fees. We, the Brothers Outraged Over Bathtubs, are concerned. We care more than any of you heartless conservatives and ‘bitter clingers’. / sarcasm
Evil ALSO triumphs when good men and women are disarmed.
“How many children weres saved with families owning guns? No stats on that.”
Actually, there are ways to estimate. Where gun control is high, it is more dangerous than the ‘Wild West’ ever was. Where gun rights are less infringed, violent crime plummets. England is another way to estimate. Their violent crime rate is outrageous now that guns are banned from legal citizens. Switzerland is another example of how guns in the hands of good people reduce violent crime.
For children under 5, it's 0.4 per 100K
Also, keep in mind that some percentage of firearms "accidents" are really homicides
Firearm accident deaths have been decreasing for decades. Since 1930, their annual number has decreased 80%, while the U.S. population has more than doubled and the number of firearms has quintupled. Among children, such deaths have decreased 89% since 1975.
Firearm accident deaths are at an all-time annual low, while the U.S. population is at an all-time high. Therefore, the firearm accident death rate is at an all-time annual low, 0.2 per 100,000 population, down 94% since the all-time high in 1904.
Today, the odds are a million to one, against a child in the U.S. dying in a firearm accident.
Firearms are involved in 0.6% of accidental deaths nationally. Most accidental deaths involve, or are due to, motor vehicles (39%), poisoning (18%), falls (16%), suffocation (5%), drowning (2.9%), fires (2.8%), medical mistakes (2.2%), environmental factors (1.2%), and bicycles and tricycles (0.7%). Among children: motor vehicles (45%), suffocation (18%), drowning (14%), fires (9%), bicycles and tricycles (2.4%), falls (2%), poisoning (1.6%),environmental factors (1.5%), and medical mistakes (0.8%).
“500 Children Die a Year Because of Parent/Guardian Stupidity”
I have not looked at stats for car accidents lately, but i would hazard a guess that more than 500 toddlers die in accidents involving motor vehicles per year.
Ban cars for everyone but statists
The rarest occurrence mentioned is a firearm accident. There is all too often negligence but accidents are exceedingly rare.
Carefully parsed data, wrongly interpreted, and presented in terms that only a true LibTard could appreciate.
Wasn’t it your namesake, Mark Twain, who said about degrees of lies, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.”...
Like I’ve told the anti-gunners that I know, I can take a piece of paper and write down the names of at least 500 people I know who own guns. Not one has ever had a mishap or used a gun in a crime.
CCW4ME on August 2, 2008 1:05 AM wrote:
Many more people die from doctor’s mistakes than from gun accidents, so before choosing a doctor maybe you should ask the person who works at your local gun store or range for advice. After all, why wouldn’t he or she know as much about medicine as your doctor probably knows about guns?
After a recent problem and a piss poor and diagnosed medical issue from my physician, that might not be bad advice.
Always get a second opinion on major medical issues
Example: my son had staph infection (MRSA) for over a year, missed by four different doctors
Actually, the article states that the doctors should ask the parents about guns in the home, not the children. They would, in all honesty, probably ask the kids though. I would flatly tell a doctor it was none of his damn business.
I stopped with the questionnaire and found a new urologist who knows his proper role. Sadly, I'm not shocked that a pediatrician would do something like this, knowing that a child is likely to give up the information.
People scream about “the erosion of their rights”...
Go figure.
Accidental deaths of children in U.S. decline
And I didn't see guns mentioned.
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