This week a 2-year-old in South Carolina found a gun in the back seat of the car he was riding in and accidentally shot his grandmother, who was sitting in the passenger seat. This type of thing happens from time to time: A little kid finds a gun, fires it, and hurts or kills himself or someone else. These cases rarely bubble up to the national level except when someone, like a parent, ends up dead.
But cases like this happen a lot more frequently than you might think. After spending a few hours sifting through news reports, I've found at least 43 instances this year of somebody being shot by a toddler 3 or younger. In 31 of those 43 cases, a toddler found a gun and shot himself or herself.
I don't even know what to say here.
My first thought is that I wonder what mental illness the NRA will suggest drove these babies to kill themselves or their loved one.
But then I just get so angry that I want to type a long string of expletives and leave it at that.
This is what results from being told time and time again that guns are a tool for self defense, and not a weapon designed to take lives.
This is the world that we live in today.
And that should shame us all.
How many toddlers were injured and/or killed by non-toddlers (over 3 years old) and/or adults?
ReplyDeletedowl
I think gun triggers need to be a fuck of a lot tighter and not so hair trigger. That a near infant can pull one is just insanity.
ReplyDeleteAll guns should come with trigger locks. If an adult can't figure out a trigger lock he or she isn't smart enough or steady enough to handle a gun.
DeleteThey aren't hair trigger. It takes between 5.5 and 7.5 pounds to pull a factory handgun trigger. Competition and specialty triggers are less but almost no one puts those in unless they are competitively shooting. Any more than that and they come off target from the pull force. It's a simple design functionality issue.
DeleteShame us all? The GOP has proven they have no shame. These children are just the collateral damage for the gun lovers. I am not ashamed. I do not own a gun. Never will. I fear daily for my grandkids in Texas, that their parents will allow them to sleep overnight somewhere and that kid will have access to a gun.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am ashamed about is that this nation has been taken over by people who are so damn concerned about their 'right to be armed' that they are trampling on MY right to feel secure walking down the street, or going to a business. That is insanity. We must vote these people out. They are fine with kids killing and being killed by their precious guns, but let a woman have a dangerous, even deadly pregnancy, needing an abortion, and they will label her and her doctor 'killer!' forever. They will label those of us who support the legal right to choose as 'killers.' Maybe it's time to stop playing nice with these idiots, and call them what they are: KILLERS.
Excellent comment, thank you.
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DeleteYou are so right!
EXACTLY!!!!!
DeleteWhat's so infuriating is that, according to many polls, a majority of people in this country want stricter gun laws. Unfortunately, the second amendment worshipers are loud and constantly egged on by the NRA, so those voices are the only ones we hear. It makes it appear that most people are against sensible restrictions when, in truth, the opposite is true.
DeleteThe NRA can always point to the fact that at least the baby could protect himself in case of a carjacking.
ReplyDeleteAll babies born in the USA have the fundamental right to their 2nd amendment freedumbs.
!!! Brilliant!!!
DeleteAs a gun rights advocate this is unacceptable. How sloppy is your gun storage when a toddler can access it? Think about it - these guns had to be low, loaded, safety off (or revolvers) with a chambered round. None of that is acceptable especially in a home with young children.
ReplyDeleteAs for an "uptick" I don't see any prior year figures to support that claim. Not a proud number but I'd guess it bounces around 40-60 per year. This isn't a gun problem it's a people problem. All of the gun owners are guilty of weapons misconduct. We rarely prosecute these because they are dead, have a dead kid, or somebody in the family is badly hurt.
No good solution except to reinforce basic safety rules. Not loaded until you are ready to shoot. Store safely out of reach of children.
The silence about these events is deafening. Only embryos get a full-throated defense.
ReplyDeleteAmazing, isn't it?
DeleteThere's only so many kids you can fry in a hot car before people get suspicious. Leaving a gun around is the next thing to try. Sure, you may not be successful the first few times but, law of averages, the unwanted li'l rugrat'll be gone before Christmas.
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