Sunday Child Shooting Review (and bonus advocacy!)

[Robb]

Here is just some of the gun violence involving children from only the past week (2/17-2/24) that you should be aware of, and which will hopefully motivate you to join the American Academy of Pediatrics and others who are advocating for ways to keep our kids safe:

• A 13 year-old boy was shot by another child while playing with an unattended handgun.


• A 9 year-old boy was shot while playing with an unattended handgun.


• A 5 year-old boy shot himself while playing with an unattended gun.


• A 9 year-old boy was shot while walking with his grandfather.


• A 2 year-old boy shot himself in the face with a gun taken from his mother's purse.


• A 1 year-old child was shot by a stray bullet inside his home.


• A 4 year-old girl was shot by a family member.


• A 3 year-old boy was accidentally shot inside his home.


• An 11 year-old boy, a 14 year-old girl, and their mother were shot by their father.


• A 3 year-old boy shot a teenage family friend with a handgun found between mattresses.


• A 7 year-old girl was shot by her father.


• A 15 year-old boy was shot in the street.


• A 4 year-old girl shot herself with an unattended handgun.


• A 16 year-old boy was shot in the street.


• Another 16 year-old boy was shot in the street.


• A 13 year-old boy was shot while sleeping on his couch.


• A 3 year-old boy was shot inside his apartment.


• A 6 year-old boy was shot in his home.


• A 5 year-old boy was accidentally shot by his 11 year-old brother.


• A 12 year-old boy was shot while playing with a shotgun.


• A 12 year-old boy shot himself in his backyard.


• A 15 year-old boy was shot near his home.


• A 14 year-old girl was shot in the street.


• A 14 year-old boy was shot walking home from school.

Again, I have stopped including reports involving children over the age of 16; going to 17 would make the list half again as long this week.

Here's to a better week. Thanks for reading.

[Robb]

1. Bonus advocacy:

Last week, one of DU's resident Progressive Gun Enthusiasts(tm) demanded a link to the American Academy of Pediatrics, to know what exactly those crazy pediatricians were advocating here. Because apparently Obama and the liberals came and took away Google as practice for taking away guns.

I'm happy to not only link to the AAP, but I'll also reproduce here their recommendations on Gun Safety: Keeping Children Safe:

Gun Safety: Keeping Children Safe

More than 44 million Americans own firearms. Of the 192 million firearms owned in the United States, 65 million are handguns. Research shows guns in homes are a serious risk to families.

• A gun kept in the home is 43 times more likely to kill someone known to the family than to kill someone in self-defense.
• A gun kept in the home triples the risk of homicide.
• The risk of suicide is 5 times more likely if a gun is kept in the home.

Advice to parents

The best way to keep your children safe from injury or death from guns is to NEVER have a gun in the home.

• Do not purchase a gun, especially a handgun.
• Remove all guns present in the home.
• Talk to your children about the dangers of guns, and tell them to stay away from guns.
• Find out if there are guns in the homes where your children play. If so, talk to the adults in the house about the dangers of guns to their families.

For those who know of the dangers of guns but still keep a gun in the home:

• Always keep the gun unloaded and locked up.
• Lock and store the bullets in a separate place.
• Make sure to hide the keys to the locked boxes.

For more information about child safety, please visit the American Academy of Pediatrics website HealthyChildren.org.

[DesertRat]

20. thank you for posting this. nt

[FarPoint]

2. Here is an adult....in parking lot of a Gun-Knife Show.

Man accidentally shoots himself leaving gun show....

snip>

A 50-year-old Indiana man accidentally shot himself Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of Hara Arena after attending Bill Goodman’s Gun and Knife Show

Trotwood police Sgt. Brandon Holbrook said the man, a licensed CCW holder, purchased a holster at the gun show and was putting a handgun in that holster when it accidentally fired. The bullet struck a finger on his left hand and the man was rushed to Miami Valley Hospital. Holbrook said it was unlikely the finger would be able to be reattached.

end>

http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/local/man-accidently-shoots-himself-leaving-gun-show/nWYG5/

[Robb]

11. Thanks.

This has also reminded me, someone suggested last week I be more clear that I'm only listing children, who are really only a fraction of the story. I'll make that change now.

[DreamGypsy]

29. You can also include a link for Gun Deaths ...

...to the Slate site: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2012/12/gun_death_tally_every_american_gun_death_since_newtown_sandy_hook_shooting.html

The site lists Deaths only, not all shootings. The default display is deaths since Newtown, so to get a weekly report requires modifying a date selection control. Still a brutal reminder of the human damage done.

Thanks, Robb, for taking the time to track and post this information. Eventually these efforts will cause change.

A quote from U. Utah Phillips:

The big system can be pretty overwhelming. We know that we can’t beat them by competing with them. What we can do is build small systems where we live and work that serve our needs as we define them and not as they ‘re defined for us. The big boys in their shining armor are up there on castle walls hurling their thunderbolts. We’re the ants patiently carrying sand a grain at a time from under the castle wall. We work from the bottom up. The knights up there don’t see the ants and don’t know what we’re doing. They’ll figure it out only when the wall begins to fall. It takes time and quiet persistence. Always remember this: They fight with money and we resist with time, and they’re going to run out of money before we run out of time.

[In_The_Wind]

3. imo: When we get rid of violent cartoons we will see a reduction of children killing children!

Wake up!

[2ndAmForComputers]

5. Was there supposed to be a point in your post?

[FarPoint]

6. I understand the rationale of this OP.

[In_The_Wind]

8. yes

[NYC_SKP]

7. Yep.

It's in cartoons, it's in ads, it's in sports.

The message, you gotta be tough, brutal, mean.

Mean is "cool".

[In_The_Wind]

9. Mean Is Never Cool

If we (as role models) continue to show just how cool it is to be mean the carnage will continue.

[NYC_SKP]

10. In the news: "If it bleeds, it leads."

Sadly, in our culture, niceness and goodness just doesn't sell.

I wish it did, I wish our cable channels and bookstores and ad spaces were filled with content about positive acts, positive people, role models, opportunities to make a difference for coming generations.

Instead, we see shows about making moonshine, killing gators, film after film about violence and, often, sexism.

Those things sell. So sad.

[In_The_Wind]

12. I am licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

And I do so very carefully.

Call me a female John Wayne, if you will.

I have been against violence always.
I worked for child protective services.
I have seen first hand what the desensitizing of America has led to and it sickens me.

[NYC_SKP]

13. I'll bet you and I have seen a few similar things.

For four years I taught long-term incarcerant juveniles, other years in the community with at-risk kids.

Broken up fights, took a revolver away from one kid, and heard the most horrifying stories of home life.

CPS has to be some sad and difficult duty.

[In_The_Wind]

16. I give back what I can where I can.

Thank you for doing a very important job helping the community and the at-risk kids.

I quit when I could not stop crying.

[ohiosmith]

14. I don't own a gun. Grew up with violence. Am now mostly a pacifist!

[In_The_Wind]

15. I only fight to defend.

also grew up with violence

I am a pacifist and was a draft counselor.

[classof56]

18. How about we reduce the availability of loaded guns where children might get their hands on them?

I've known very young children who were shot by siblings and others. They were accidental, with no malicious intent. Kids find guns, have no clue the harm they can do, and pull the trigger. My question is--why do adults leave loaded guns where kids can get their hands on them? These situations are sad enough just by their nature--trust me, I know--but even sadder is what the youngster who did the shooting has to live with, probably for the rest of their lives. As for the supposedly responsible adults who left the gun out...well, I'm sure there's a lot of guilt they'll deal with, too, if they cared at all about the dead child. I've heard of those who don't give a rip, but that's another story. There are many layers to the cause and effects of the horror of child gun deaths, but in my book, cartoons would be way at the bottom of the list.

Blessings.

[In_The_Wind]

22. Only a very stupid gun owner leaves any fire arm loaded and not locked away.

Do you remember back when there was no (or very little) violence in: cartoons, advertising, sports
(I hate hockey the most)? Well I do.

Where do you think this generation of killers of innocent lives learned to behave the way they do today.


stop desensitizing to violence. stop the killing. learn to love.

[Robb]

24. Anything to solve the problem but fewer guns.

Got it.

[In_The_Wind]

28. Fewer guns in the wrong hands will help to solve the problem.

got it

[Robb]

35. That's the thing, though.

No one ever thinks their own hands are the "wrong" ones.

Look at some of these children's stories. Do you think their parents ever thought their kids would get their hands on their guns?

Everyone thinks their guns are somehow special, somehow exempt, that for some reason these sorts of things will never happen with their guns. Until they do.

Peace.

[In_The_Wind]

36. Robb. I am so sorry for the pain. Yes, something needs to be done.

I just don't have the correct answerer. [img][/img] I want the killing to stop.




namaste

Joani

[abelenkpe]

26. Really?

Did you never watch any WB cartoons? Or Tom and Jerry? During the 90s we had an executive at WB who was committed to removing all the gun violence from the classic Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny cartoons. After cutting the scenes where they blow each other up or shoot one another there was nothing left.

When watching cartoons or playing games with your kids it is important to always point out where the physics are wrong or the outcome completely incorrect. Responsible viewing can be used to inform and instruct as well as entertain.

It's true anyone who leaves a firearm loaded and not locked away is incredibly irresponsible. So why not make that a legal requirement when one owns a weapon in a home where there are children? Much like child safety seat laws it could potentially save thousands of children a year without infringing on the rights of responsible gun owners.

[In_The_Wind]

27. I agree with this:

your words:

When watching cartoons or playing games with your kids it is important to always point out where the physics are wrong or the outcome completely incorrect. Responsible viewing can be used to inform and instruct as well as entertain.

It's true anyone who leaves a firearm loaded and not locked away is incredibly irresponsible. So why not make that a legal requirement when one owns a weapon in a home where there are children? Much like child safety seat laws it could potentially save thousands of children a year without infringing on the rights of responsible gun owners.

[sigmasix]

31. 3 stooges teaching murderers

There was never a time when entertainment media didn't contain violence. The notion that bugs bunny and the 3 stooges cause children to embrace murder is beyond laughable. Anyone that is a responsible parent knows that most normal children are sophisticated and intelligent enough to not emulate the violent acts of cartoon entertainment- and those children that do behave violently are more often the result of bad parenting, not children's entertainment. By the time I was 10 years old, myself and those from my generation had whitnessed untold hours of Curly and Larry being pulverized and poked in the eyes. Somehow, myself and my contemporaries were able to grow up with an understanding that media violence is just part of entertainment, not a lifestyle or practical endeavor.
If you honestly believe that the 3 stooges and Beavis & Butthead are at fault for child gun deaths and other acts of violence, perhaps you should not be a parent. Entertaining and embracing silly notions like this should underline the importance of taking responsibility for the intellectual and moral training of our own children. Only children with pre-existing dysfunctional social problems- raised in the absence moral and intellectual guidance- would emulate violent entertainment media with an expectation of cartoon results.
There is a relationship between media and cultural attitudes and actions- but it is not a "cause & effect" sort of relationship- if this were true, everyone listening to love songs would fall in love and our society would be filled with individuals injured and maimed by falling anvils and magnetic bird seed.
It's time for some parents to quit using the TV as a babysitter and moral educator. Americans that raise thier children with care and reason shouldn't be denied 1st amendment rights, just because a small number of Americans have abdicated thier parental responsibilities and left the moral education of thier children to Nickelodeon and Cartoon network.
TV, movies and video games are entertainment, not a substitute for a social and moral education- and they never have been. Why do some censorship-happy Americans spend so much time trying to convince us that it is? Most Americans understand this common sense fact- others refuse to acknowledge the scientific and moral reality that entertainment media is not the cause of violence in our society; bad parenting and socioeconomic factors are the culprits. Moe, Larry and Curly are not murdering our children. I'm amazed that grown-up, intelligent progressives are still refusing to acknowledge this fact.

[classof56]

32. Hey, I'm 75 years old. I remember a lot of stuff.

When I was very young, I went to see the Disney movie "Snow White". The witch scared the bejeezus out of me and from then on I was never a cartoon fan. Though I kinda liked the Hanna-Barbera ones when I was in my 20s--mostly Huckleberry Hound. Oh, and Yogi Bear. We didn't have TV "back in the day" but I clearly recall the horror that struck me when images of the WWII Holocaust began to be made public. Also saw a movie during the war where a German commandante shot down a class of school kids because they had objected to what Der Fuhrer was doing. That was pretty unnerving, but didn't lead me to a life of violence. Though I do fault the relative who took me to that show. Movies weren't "rated" then or I'd probably not have made it through the door. Would like it a lot if that memory weren't forever imprinted in my brain, but there ya go.

Maybe it was my Baptist upbringing, which advocated for love, compassion and sharing the Gospel. So I certainly agree with you about stopping the desensitizing of violence, stopping the killing and learning to love. I've stepped away from religion, but those values are at the top of my list. I've attempted to instill them in my children and grandchildren, who so far have not engaged in violence beyond some sibling rivalry that never got physical. Guess my point is, the very young children I refer to were shot by accident, not out of the seeds of anger and hatred planted while watching cartoons or sports. And yes, some very stupid gun owners left loaded firearms out and accessible to those children. Plainly and simply, they bear the blame and the shame. But the kids are dead and the rest of us are left to deal with the sorrow.

Again, I echo what you said. Stop the killing. Learn to love.

Peace.

[In_The_Wind]

33. thank you

[img][/img]

peace.

[classof56]

34. And thanks to you--especially for the beautiful rose.

You have made the day better for this old lady!

Blessings.

[spanone]

4. k&r...

[ybbor]

17. If only these children had had a gun to protect themselves

[MichiganVote]

19. K&R

[BlueStreak]

21. k&r nt

[ancianita]

23. Thank you. This is horrible, hard and invaluable truth.

[abelenkpe]

25. K&R

If one is going to have a gun in a home where children are or may be present they should be legally required to lock up their weapons. It would be a minor inconvenience that could potentially save thousands of kids a year. Now I know that many will say they grew up around guns and nothing bad happened. Just as many of us grew up never having to be strapped into an infant or kids car seat. Yet no one today would argue that kids seats save lives. And anyone driving a child around now without one would be seen as insanely irresponsible. It's not much to ask for the safety of our children.

[Robb]

30. Exactly.

And people who smoke in cars with children are pariahs today, 20 years ago no one thought twice about it.

It's all about education and changing perceptions.

[libodem]

37. Time to start suing the makers

And having a mandatory gun insurance policy for the hospital bills, funerals and pain and suffering of the injured. You insure your car, you insure those guns.

Are there not trigger locks? Why are these guns loaded?