"The reality is that real children rarely are accidentally killed by firearms that they are playing with."
Prove it. The stats from the non-partisan CDC say you're wrong.
"Child safety is an important issue. Firearms injury is the second leading cause of non-natural death in childhood and adolescence. (CDC, 2004) Accidental shooting deaths are most commonly associated with one or more children playing with a gun they found in the home. (Choi, et al, 1994) The person pulling the trigger is a friend, family member, or the victim. (Harruff, 1992)"..
----------------------------------------------------------------
AM I SAFER IF I HAVE A GUN IN MY HOME?
Many gun owners, particularly handgun owners, believe that guns are useful for self-defense. However, a gun in the home is far more likely to be involved in a homicide, suicide or unintentional shooting in the home than to be used against an intruder.1 People who live in homes where a gun is present are at increased risk for gun homicide, suicide and unintentional shootings.2,3,4 Incidences in which guns are used for protection are rare compared to their use in gun-related crimes.5,6,7 Fewer than 2 in 1,000 victims use a gun to defend themselves.6,7
From 1977-1983, at least 40% of unintentional gun deaths among children younger than 14 in California were due, in part, to the mishandling of guns and defects in gun performance or design.8 Keeping guns in the home, especially loaded guns, has also been found to increase the risk for home suicides and adolescent suicides.2,9 From 1980-1992, guns were used in 65% of all adolescent suicides, 74% of suicides among older men, and 31% of suicides among older women.10,11
The availability of guns also increases the risk for homicides in the home, especially among victims of domestic violence.12,13 A woman is twice as likely to be shot and killed by a spouse or intimate acquaintance using a gun than by a complete stranger using a gun, knife or any other weapon.14
A gun in the home is most likely to be used against someone who lives in that home or knows someone who lives there. In California, from 1990 through 1995, only 17% of people murdered in a home were killed by a stranger. Of those killed in their own homes, two-thirds knew their killer. When the shooting occurred in the shooter's home, 63% of those killed were intimates or family members and 29% were acquaintances.4 Nationally in 1997, nearly half of all murder victims knew their assailants, and only 14% were killed by strangers. One out of every three murders in the U.S. in 1997 resulted from an argument, while only one in five was the result of felonious activity.15
It is rare that a gun kept in the home for protection is actually used for that purpose. Rather, a gun in the home is more likely to kill or injure someone who lives in or visits that home.
References:
1. Hemenway, D. Survey Research and Self-Defense Gun Use: An Explanation of Extreme Overestimates. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Volume 87, Number 4, pages 1430-1445 (1997).
2. Kellermann, A.L., et al. Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership. The New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 327, Number 7, pages 467-472 (1992).
3. Kellerman, AL, et al. Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home. The New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 329, Number 15, pages 1084-1091 (1993).
4. Residential Firearm Homicides in California, Report No. 3 (August 1998) of the Epidemiology and Prevention for Injury Control (EPIC) Branch, California Department of Health Services.
5. Kellermann, A.L., Westphal, L., Fischer, L., & Harvard, B. Weapon Involvement in Home Invasion Crimes. Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 273, pages 1759-1762 (1995).
6. McDowall, D., & Wiersema, B. The Incidence of Defensive Firearm Use by U.S. Crime Victims, 1987-1990. American Journal of Public Health, Volume 84, Number 12, pages 1982-1984 (1994).
7. Cook, P.J. The Technology of Personal Violence. In: Tonry, M., Ed. Crime and Justice: A Review of Research. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press (1991).
8. Wintemute, G.J., Kraus, J.F., Teret, S.P., & Wright, M.A. Unintentional Firearm Deaths in California. The Journal of Trauma, Volume 29, Number 4, pages 457-461 (1989).
9. Brent, D.A., Perper, J.A., Allman, C.J., Moritz, G.M., Wartella, M.E., & Zelenak, J.P. The Presence and Accessibility of Firearms in the Homes of Adolescent Suicides: A Case-Control Study. Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 266, Number 21, pages 2989-2995 (1991).
10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide Among Children, Adolescents and Young Adults, United States, 1980-1992. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Volume 44, pages 289-291 (1995).
11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide Among Older Persons -- United States, 1980-1992. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Volume 45, pages 3-6 (1996).
12. Bailey, J.E., Kellermann, A.L., Somes, G.W., Banton, J.G., Rivara, F.P., & Rushforth, N.P. Risk Factors for Violent Death of Women in the Home. Archives of Internal Medicine, Volume 157, pages 777-782 (1997).
13. Saltzman, L.E., Mercy, J.A., Carroll, P.W., Rosenberg, M.L., & Rhoes, P.H. Weapon Involvement and Injury Outcomes in Family and Intimate Assaults. Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 267, pages 3043-3047 (1992).
14. Kellermann, A.L., & Mercy, J.A. Men, Women and Murder: Gender-Specific Differences in Rates of Fatal Violence and Victimization. Journal of Trauma, Volume 31, pages 1-5 (1992).
15. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States, Uniform Crime Reports 1997. Washington, DC: Department of Justice (November 22, 1998).
Further Reading:
Brent, D.A., Perper, J.A., Moritz, G., Baugher, M., Schweers, J., & Roth, C. Suicide in Affectively Ill Adolescents: A Case-Control Study. Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 31, Number 3, pages 193-202 (1994).
Choi, E., Donghue, E.R., Lifschultz, B.D. Deaths Due to Firearm Injuries in Children. Journal of Forensic Sciences, Volume 39, Number 3, pages 685-692 (1994).
Cummings, P, et al. The Association Between the Purchase of a Handgun and Homicide or Suicide. American Journal of Public Health, Volume 87, pages 974-978 (1997).
Kellerman, A.L., Reay, D.T. Protection or Peril?: An Analysis of Firearm-Related Deaths in the Home. The New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 314, Number 24, pages 1557-1560 (1986).
Rand, M.R. Guns and Crime: Handgun Victimization, Firearm Self-Defense, and Firearm Theft: Crime Data Brief. Washington, D.C.: Department of Justice (1994). |
