Gun Owners Turning Own Families into Circular Firing Squads
As tragic as it is for a toddler to kill his mother with her own handgun, the situation could have been worse. The child could have mowed down other Walmart shoppers as well. I'm tired of advocating for gun control to no avail. But I'm finally beginning to see how this whole gun business in America is going to end. It may not take all that many generations before toddlers killing parents and vice verse, kids shooting classmates and gun owners accidentally shooting themselves may thin out the ranks of the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the point of no return.
According to the American Academic of Pediatrics:
Having a gun in your home significantly increases your risk of death — and that of your spouse and children.
And it doesn’t matter how the guns are stored or what type or how many guns you own.
If you have a gun, everybody in your home is more likely than your non-gun-owning neighbors and their families to die in a gun-related accident, suicide or homicide.
Furthermore, there is no credible evidence that having a gun in your house reduces your risk of being a victim of a crime. Nor does it reduce your risk of being injured during a home break-in.
David Waldman, a diarist at DailyKos maintains a running total of "gunfails." In the latest report covering a three week period, he notes:
10 "home invasion shootings" in which our fellow patriots' freedom projectiles were shared with neighbors; 37 people who accidentally shot themselves; 9 people who shot themselves but tried to lie to the cops about someone else shooting them; 20 kid victims; 6 accidental shootings by kids; 15 fatalities; 8 stray bullet incidents*; two accidents while cleaning loaded guns; 8 very expensive medical evacuations by air; 2 guns that went off in pockets; 3 target shooting accidents; 9 cops involved in various FAILs; 9 FAILs by carriers out shopping, dining or otherwise engaging in everyday commerce among the public; 2 bathroom GunFAILs; 1 firearms instructor who shot himself, and 1 person who thought it'd be a fun idea to have someone shoot him while he was wearing a "bullet-proof" vest.There's nothing comical about a gun-loving couple losing a spouse to a shooting accident caused by their two year old. The emotional wounds suffered by that child may never heal. But the lasting trauma of the event does not make it any less ridiculous.
[* Here I have included stray bullets not fired by accident, but which missed their intended targets and hit bystanders, nearby homes, etc. "Home invasion shootings," in my categorization, typically involve unintended discharges.]
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