Guns.com recently publishes an article describing research done on gun related deaths in America. According to this article 10,000 children go to hospital each year due to gun related injuries. Of those 3,000 die before they get to the hospital.(/www.guns.com)
Now at first glance its pretty depressing. If you are like me I couldn't believe all those young kids were being shot. However, most of the children in this study were not kids at all. In fact they were young adults, most in the category of eighteen to twenty years old. Now I am no expert but I am pretty sure when you are eighteen you are considered an adult. Do not get me wrong, it is still pretty sad but most of these "kids" are out there killing other people. Today's street gangs are recruiting children younger and younger. By the time they hit their teen they think they are untouchable. Some will kill a man for giving him/her a dirty look.
In light of this article I wanted to do some research of my own. I wanted to determine three things. One what is the leading killer of America's children. Two exactly how many gun related deaths are occurring to America's children. Finally I want to know what kind of programs there are to keep them safe.
To answer my first question i visited a couple of sights. The first thing i found was that in each category, 1-4,5-14, and 15-24, accidents were one of the leading causes of death for children and adolescents.(www.nlm.nih.gov) Now according to Guns.com less than twenty-five percent of gun-related injures are accidents. However when we look at the 15-24 age groups two new killers appear. Those killers are suicide and homicide. So gun-related injuries are more prevalent in children over fourteen years old. Hardly what I envisioned when I was told children were being sent to the hospital, around twenty each day, due to guns.
So that leaves they question how many children are being sent to hospital due to guns? Also how many die due to their injuries? Now according to Guns.com guns are not even in the top five pediatric injuries. The grand statics, 7,500 injuries and only 500 deaths.(thechart.blogs.cnn.com) So we went from 3,000 dying before the get to the emergency room to 500 deaths. that is a pretty dramatic drop.
Finally how to keep America's children safe. Parents you don't need a class or a website to keep your kids safe from guns. I have grown up around guns all my life. Since I was born my parents have done three simple things. First keep your guns put up locked up. This will prevent accidents from happening. Second teach your kids. A gun should respected at all times. Teaching kids about the responsibility of owning a firearm will not only teach them gun-safety, but will also teach this the dangers that can happen if the firearm is not used correctly.Finally keep your kids off the streets. Knowing were they are will help you to know they are safe. If they are in club or sport it is kinda hard for kids to get into trouble.
Above all people need to understand guns are a tool. Guns cause injuries and death as much as spoons cause obesity and cars cause wrecks. Children will find all sorts of ways to hurt themselves. There are much bigger dangers to America's youth. It it is our job as the adults of this country to teach them about safety.
A big thanks to
- http://www.guns.com/2014/01/27/study-shows-10000-youth-injured-killed-year-us-firearms/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_camprmaign=study-shows-10000-youth-injured-killed-year-us-reasfi
- http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001915.htm
- http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/28/500-kids-die-7500-injured-by-guns-yearly/
