Posted on 12/11/2001 11:37:24 AM PST by BCR #226
Attention Holiday Shoppers: 'Don't Put a Handgun Under the Christmas Tree This Year'
MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens for a Safer Minnesota (CSM), a gun violence prevention group, warned holiday shoppers not to put a handgun under the Christmas tree this year. CSM noted that handguns can pose health risks due to inherent defects in their design and fabrication. Additionally, most handguns lack safety devices like trigger locks and load indicators that would reduce the number of accidental injuries and deaths caused by the unintentional firing of guns.
Currently there are no health and safety regulations for handguns. Ironically, teddy bears and toy guns are subject to federal consumer product safety standards and are subject to recall.
"When holiday shoppers purchase virtually any product, they can be assured that their gift has been reviewed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, unless shoppers are buying a gun," said Rebecca Thoman, Executive Director of Citizens for a Safer Minnesota. "When we regulate teddy bears and toy guns more than we regulate a handgun, something is wrong."
Teddy bears are regulated under four criteria: choking (ex. eyes popping out posing risk to children), flammability, sharp edges, and sharp points. Toy guns and other children's toys have similar regulations. In 1997 teddy bears killed no one in the United States, but gun violence took 32,436 lives in 1997 alone.
CSM's Midwest Coalition to End Gun Violence partners, Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence and the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence joined together to educate the public that guns are not regulated as consumer products.
"Two-thirds of Twin City residents and nearly 80% of greater Minnesota residents mistakenly believe that guns are regulated by federal safety standards. It's our job to correct that myth," stated Thoman, referring to a survey recently conducted for Citizens for a Safer Minnesota.
"I think people assume that guns are regulated as consumer products because everything else they buy is regulated. They say, so why aren't guns in the list as well," said Catherine Griffiths, Midwest Regional Director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.
According to a recent survey, Minnesota residents overwhelmingly support government safety regulations for the design of guns. 75% of Twin City metro residents and 66% of greater Minnesota residents support regulating guns as consumer products.
The Midwest Coalition displayed an array of consumer regulated products including an artificial wreath, Christmas lights, a toaster, a coffee maker, and a remote controlled toy Santa that carried a sign asking why teddy bears are regulated, but guns are not. CSM wants to know the same thing.
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http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X88722438
SOURCE Citizens for a Safer Minnesota
CO: Citizens for a Safer Minnesota
ST: Minnesota
IN:
SU:
12/11/2001 11:30 EST http://www.prnewswire.com
Doesn't the author know that?
Get two.
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Number of physicians in the US: 700,000 / Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year: 120,000 / Accidental deaths per physician: 0.171 (US Dept. Health and Human Services)
Number of gun owners in the US: 80,000,000 / Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all ages) 1,500 / Accidental deaths per gun owner: 0.0000188
Doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners. Not everyone has a gun, but most everyone has at least one doctor.
We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand. As a public health measure, I have withheld the statistics on lawyers, for fear that the shock could cause people to seek medical aid. However, you may want to encourage everyone to get a gun... just in case you see a doctor approaching.
L
I do agree, however, that a handgun is a better "stocking stuffer". A shotgun or rifle belongs under the tree.
Note to the bliss-ninnies: Guns don't go off by themselves. There is NO SUCH THING as an "unintentional" firing of a gun. For the weapon to discharge, the trigger needs to be pulled. That means that a person needs to have acted, and that means negligence. Let's get the terminology correct prior to going forward, shall we?
Not quite true. Although it doesn't happen often (and it will never happen with a non-defective well-maintained firearm non-abused) it is possible for many types of firearm to suffer a mechanical failure which will cause them to fire even without the trigger being pulled. Part of the reason that for always keeping every firearm pointed in a safe direction is to ensure that even if a gun does fire under such circumstances it will not cause injury.
While 99.44% of so-called "accidental" discharges would be more accurately called "negligent", "reckless", or "just plain stupid" discharges, there are a few which could quite reasonably be termed accidental. For example, I read of a case where someone was killed when he released the bolt on an SKS rifle after loading it and it immediately proceeded slam-fire through the entire magazine. Since he was not securely gripping the rifle, he was unable to keep it pointed in a safe direction. Even though this persom may have failed to clean their rifle as often as they should have, I would still consider their death to be the result of an accidental discharge.
Guns have muzzles as well... ergo, guns are dangerous things that can easily and willfully attack their owners.
Its logic... see.
Note that dogs and guns share two of the same letters... a coincidence... I don't think so...(insert eerie music here)
Mike
They don't need to worry about me. I buy my own and keep them in my bedroom. My computer room. My garage. My...
But I'm live in Southern Connecticut and was born in Southern new Hampshire. So we wrap the handguns in their boxes or a case and put them under a tree. Its not like Santa doesn't bring them. It is cold in the winters up here so our stockings have to be useful.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Merry Christmas (I hope Santa brings you the new handgun you asked for)
Heh heh! :-)
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