People are getting shot by toddlers on a weekly basis this year...
...Roughly once a week this year, on average, a small child has found a gun, pointed it at himself or someone else, and pulled the trigger... In 13 of the 43 total incidents, a child's self-inflicted injuries were fatal. In two other cases, another person died after being shot by a toddler: a father in Alabama, and a 1-year-old in Ohio...
...And there are probably many more cases where a little kid inadvertently shoots a gun and doesn't hit anyone, resulting in little more than a scared kid and (hopefully) chastened parents...
...There are policy and technical responses to preventable childhood gun deaths... State and localities could required guns to be locked up at home, a policy supported by 67 percent of Americans. Various types of smart gun technology, which prevent anyone other than their owners from firing a given gun, exist as well. But gun lock requirements and smart guns have been vehemently opposed by the National Rile Association and its allies.
Instead, the NRA continues to promote a response that seeks to solve gun problems with more guns, and aims to broaden the saturation of firearms in nearly every sphere of public and private life, from homes to schools to churches to bars to airports...
what eye thynk: A toddler a week! But so totally worth it to protect our Second Amendment rights. Yay, America!
I would love to hear the gun lobby explain how their "more guns" and "good guy with a gun" ideas are better solutions than locked gun cabinets or smart guns in preventing toddler gun tragedies like these. I'd also like to hear them explain how the Second Amendment gives them the right to be judge, jury, and executioner in order to prevent gun shop owners from offering safer firearms to those who want them.
Gun shop owners in Maryland and California who advertised the sale of smart guns stopped selling them after receiving death threats. According to rabid gun fans, anyone who dares to offer the public the choice to purchase a type of gun they personally dislike should be killed. And they see this as a rational response! Not only do they believe that every American should be free to own as many guns as they want, they believe they have the right to tell Americans what TYPE of gun should be in their personal arsenal. Owning an assault rifle is a fine idea! An automatic pistol with an extended magazine? Excellent choice! Smart gun ownership, however, makes you the enemy and anyone offering such a firearm for sale deserves death.
These crazies will proudly wear their "Good Guy with a Gun" t-shirt to church on Sunday and thank God the NRA is fighting to protect their right to keep a "stupid" gun behind a sofa cushion where their 2-year-old can find it and shoot himself in the head. Allowing another parent to purchase a gun that all but guarantees his small children will be safe from accidental self-annihilation is un-American!
Carrying their logic to other choices, I wonder how they'd feel if vegetarians began threatening their local A&P managers with death unless they stopped selling meat? It's the same rationale--I don't like it so you shouldn't be permitted to have it--and in this context demonstrates how stupidly out of control the gun lobby is in this country.
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