CDF Gun Report Shows Increase of Child and Teen Deaths
Imagine a bullet fired from a semiautomatic pistol, moving through the night darkness faster than the speed of sound—more than 1,200 feet per second or four football fields end to end. Now imagine that bullet slamming into the body of a child like a brick through a picture window. Hold that image in your mind as you consider some of the leads of recent news articles of child firearm victims: Chicago, May 3 -Cortney Rogers, Jr., 5, accidentally shot himself in the head with a .45-caliber revolver in his family’s apartment. Bronx, April 26 - An 18-month-old boy was shot when a gun that two men were playing with went off. Grand Rapids, April 17 - While eight-year-old Rogelio Villarreal was having a bedtime snack in his home, gunshots rang out, and he was shot in the forearm. Durham, April 15 - A nine-year-old boy was shot in the face while standing in his front yard. Long Island, April 14 - Jeffrey Langhorn, 11, was shot in the kitchen of his home when three bullets were fired from outside. News stories like these should move us to ask ourselves, "Is any child in America safe from gun violence?"
According to the Children's Defense Fund's 2008 report, Protect Children, Not Guns, released this month, the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 3,006 children and teens were killed by firearms in 2005, the first increase in deaths from gun violence of young people under the age of 20 since 1994. The 2005 data also mark the first increase in such deaths since Congress allowed the assault weapons ban to expire in 2004. Since that time, Congress has passed no new laws to protect children and teens from gun violence or to make it harder for guns to fall into the wrong hands.
The CDF report reveals that eight children and teens are killed by a firearm each day. Of the 3,006 killed in 2005, 1,624 were White, 1,271 were Black, 614 were Latino, 60 were Asian or Pacific Islander and 51 were American Indian or Alaska Native. Overall, 1,972 were homicide victims. In 2005, 69 preschoolers were killed by firearms compared to 53 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. The firearm death rate for Black males ages 15 to 19 is more than four times that of comparable White males. In 2005, there were more than eight times as many suicides by guns among White children and teens as among Black children and teens. Since 1979, gun violence has ended the lives of 104,419 children and teens in America. And more than five times as many have been injured.
Shooting deaths of young people sometimes occur as a mass slaughter. In April, we marked the first anniversary of the horrendous shootings at Virginia Tech University where 32 students and professors were gunned down by a mentally deranged student. And the multiple shootings at Northern Illinois University this February are still fresh in our minds.
It is imperative that policy makers at every level of government work to adopt policies that limit the number of guns in our communities and regulate who can obtain firearms. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently preparing to issue its ruling on the District of Columbia v. Heller case, which will decide whether to uphold or strike down Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns enacted in 1976. At a time when the danger of gun violence to young people is so evident, we hope the Court will send a clear message to the nation that communities have the right to enact gun control laws designed to protect public safety. In January, CDF joined four other national organizations in filing an amici curiae brief with the Court stating that we believe "the absence of handguns from children's homes and communities is the most reliable and effective method to prevent firearms-related injuries to children and adolescents."
Whatever rights the Constitution does or does not convey, it is clear that the accessibility of handguns dramatically increases the chances of injury and death among children and youth. With more than 200 million firearms in the United States, including more than 65 million handguns, the mathematical chances of a child being a victim of gun violence are frightening. We must take stock of this deadly arithmetic and take action now. I applaud key Mayors who are standing up for sensible gun control measures.
Everyone must support common sense gun safety measures, including removing guns from their homes. We must stress nonviolent values and conflict resolution in all aspects of life. Refuse to buy or use products for children and teens that glamorize violence. Raise awareness of child and teen gun deaths and injuries. Provide children and teens positive alternatives to the streets where they can feel safe and protected. The actions we take on these measures will go a long way toward making children and our communities safer today and in the future.
Learn more about CDF's new report at www.childrensdefense.org/gunreport.
Follow Marian Wright Edelman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChildDefender
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This article is a bait and switch lie.
It starts off with heart-tugging stories about young children who are accidentally shot, which is a tragedy. Then it goes on to claim that eight teens are killed every day by guns and 3006 children were killed with guns in 2005.
What is NOT mentioned is that the overwhelming majority of these so-called "children" are criminal teenagers involved in drug gangs and gang warfare. According to the CDC, 28 children under the age of ten were accidentally shot that year.
The author of this article would have far more credibility if she just complained that she wanted all guns banned because she's firearm-phobic and wants to make herself feel better rather than write up lies and misinformation. At least have the courtesy to be honest.
She also neglects to state the fact that there is no correlation between firearms in the home and suicide-- quite a few countries with strict gun control (like Japan, Russia and others) also have far higher rates of suicide than here in the U S. Also if she looks at the Pacific Northwest and states like Montana, the Dakotas etc, she will find very high levels of firearm ownership and low crime rates. I have noticed that many people who have grown up in rural areas tend to have a very direct way of dealing with problems--and in places where families have known each other for generations, the kids don't get much of a chance to get into the habit of getting into trouble (there are certain advantages of the retired folks that keep an eye out on the neighborhood, and have a take charge attitude--kids start acting out and a cantakerous senior citizen not only takes immediate action to stop the troublemaking, but make the phone call to the parents of the kids involved--many problems don't get much chance to develop--and those that do tend to stop when most people nearby intervene with the tools needed to make sure they stop.
"With more than 200 million firearms in the United States, including more than 65 million handguns, the mathematical chances of a child being a victim of gun violence are frightening. "
If your statistics were sound and showed at least a trend then you should be able to take any of your numbers and divide then by the number of "children" to derive the "mathematical" chances of an event happening to a child.
There was nothing in your premise to suggest that the number of guns should be factored in. In short, the mathematical chances of a child being a victim of gun violence is astoundingly quite low.
While I don't agree with Marian I will give her points for being honest. She is one of the few leaders of an anti gun organization that actually calls for a gun ban instead of hiding her plans with talks of "Common Sense Gun Control" and other catchy little phrases.
An honest (semi) anti gunner. What will we see next?
Actually I kind of jumped the gun (no pun intended) in calling Marian honest. She stated the ages of the gunshot victims as those up to 20 years old yet called them all children. Hmmm....that's more than a little misleading. She also failed to point out the majority of these deaths are criminals killing other criminals and the stats on gun accidents are pretty low.
Perhaps instead of disarming all American households with children we could just lock up these young criminals before they kill.
Number 14 on the list of causes of death of children in the US is firearms. I imagine that your next column will suggest a complete ban on water and cars? As for Virgina tech, as long as we have Gun free victim zones, that's where deranged people will go to kill without worry of anyone being armed to defend themselves. I"m sorry but your blog is as rediculous as the brady bunch that you seem so enthralled with.
Top 20 Causes of Death - Kids (5 - 9)
Rank Cause of Death Total Deaths No of Deaths Percent
All Deaths 3018 3018 100.00%
1 Unintentional Injury 1176 38.97%
* Motor Vehicle Traffic 621 20.58%
* Drowning 159 5.27%
* Fire/burn 153 5.07%
* Suffocation 40 1.33%
* Other Land Transport 33 1.09%
* Pedestrian, Other 27 0.89%
* Struck by or Against 20 0.66%
* Unspecified 20 0.66%
* Fall 18 0.60%
* Other Spec., classifiable 17 0.56%
* Poisoning 15 0.50%
* Firearm 14 0.46%
* Other Transport 12 0.40%
* Other Spec., NEC 8 0.27%
* Natural/ Environment 7 0.23%
* Machinery 6 0.20%
* Pedal cyclist, Other 4 0.13%
* Cut/pierce
Unintentional injuries aren't avoidable.
Motor vehicles? We need them to earn our living.
Drowning? Water is an essential part of life
Guns? Completely unnecessary.
Get it yet? Stop trying to muddy the waters. The truth of the matter is that by limiting and regulating gun ownership we could save thousands of lives and prevent many thousands of serious injuries every year. Other than your paranoid anecdotal storytelling, nothing indicates that guns promote safety or security for anyone.
Wake up before thousands more die without any reason or benefit.
"Other than your paranoid anecdotal storytelling, nothing indicates that guns promote safety or security for anyone."
Your ad hominem is not factual, and based on your own emotional opinion.
Nothing indicates guns promote safety or security, huh? According to the FBI, guns are used in 84,000 defensive situations every year. In only 6-8% of those instances, is it actually necessary to fire the gun. The rest of the time, it's mere presence is a deterrant.. BTW, 84K is a conservative estimate. Other sources indicate numbers as high as 2 or 3 million defensive situations.
Crime per 100,000 resudents of this country has increased 313% from 1960-2006 according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report (see link). Gun Control as we know it, has been around for 40 years. Do the math.
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/
It's time to start punishing violent criminals like we mean it, and stop harrassing law abiding gun owners. Unfortunately most anti 2nd Amendment types are the same element who likes to coddle criminals, and let them out of jail early.
Gun Free Zones, as pushed by the Brady Campign, etc., have proven to be nothing but magnets for people who want to comit mass murder, unopposed.
"The truth of the matter is that by limiting and regulating gun ownership we could save thousands of lives and prevent many thousands of serious injuries every year "
We have some 2000 gun laws on the books in this country as it is. They have done little to keep guns from criminals.
Look at DC and Chicago, where handguns are banned. Street crime and illegally owned guns are a deluge in Chicago, and DC continues to have one of the country's highest homicide rates year after year. Both cities are issuing assault rifles to police. It doesn't seem like those bans are working out to well, after 23 and 32 years, respectively.
Criminals don't obey gun laws, Chief.
mpdtw wrote:
"Guns? Completely unnecessary."
Try telling that to the civilians who lawfully use firearms approximately 2 to 2.5 million times each year in lawful self defense (source: Criminologist Professor Gary Kleck, Florida State University, "Targeting Guns"). Make sure you tell Obama and Clinton to get rid of their 24 hour armed security that is provided at tax payer expense since guns are unecessary.
mp2dtw wrote:
"The truth of the matter is that by limiting and regulating gun ownership we could save thousands of lives and prevent many thousands of serious injuries every year."
The British government banned handguns in January 1997 but gun crime in England and Wales has nearly doubled since then. Since 1996, the rate of serious violent crime has soared by 88%, armed robberies by 101%, rapes by 105% and homicide by 24%, and England ranks as the most violent western industrialized nation (source: International Crime Victim Survey). What did strict gun control achieve in Washington D.C. where the homicide rate is 29.1 per 100,000, and the national average is 5.7?
mp2dtw wrote:
"Other than your paranoid anecdotal storytelling, nothing indicates that guns promote safety or security for anyone"
There is not one single independent academic study showing any gun control law as having a positive impact at reducing crime (source: CDC ). What proof can you offer that gun control reduces crime other than your firearm-phobic rants?
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5214a2.htm
Many people get along fine without motor vehicles. We do not "need" them.
Water is needed for life, swimming pools aren't.
Gun's are needed. Guns are used many more times to prevent crimes than they are to commit them. Besides, the Second Amendment is not about need, it's about rights. All of the rights spelled out in the Bill of Rights are unalienable, God given, pre-exsiting rights that can't be taken away by anyone. The Constitution is not a limit on people, it is a limit on what the Government is allowed to do. They are not allowed to make laws about religion, or speech, yet they do so constantly. They are not allowed to infringe on the right to bear arms, yet there are 20,000 illegal gun laws on the Federal books alone. The Patriot Act is another example of the Government usurping powers not given it by the people.
Really according to the CDC and AMA report gun laws cannot be shown to stop gun violece at all. Must be getting it from the Highly reliable Brady Compedium of falsehoods.
The madman jumped from his car in downtown Tokyo and killed 7 people, wounding many others yesterday. This is following a recent string of knife attacks, including Saturday where a man stabbed 8, killing one at t shipping mall. Time to ban knives. Time to sue the knife manufacturers.
Marian, your bias in choice of anecdotes was telling. Half of the personal stories you gave were due to accidents, while the CDF report clearly shows that accidents only contributed to 5% of the deaths. That's quite clever -- same approach that leftists are using to push universal health care down our throats.
http://www.amnesty.org
http://www.soaw.org
Rolf Krogsæther
"the absence of handguns from children's homes and communities is the most reliable and effective method to prevent firearms-related injuries to children and adolescents."
other truisms:
The absence of automobiles from children's homes and communities is the most reliable and effective method to prevent automobile-related injuries to children and adolescents.
The absence of crime from children's homes and communities is the most reliable and effective method to prevent crime-related injuries to children and adolescents.
See what I did there? As a Western State Democrat I can tell you unequivocally that this issue loses elections out here. People who otherwise agree with our platform in its entirety will simply not vote, or vote Republican simply because they believe that the Democratic Party wants to make their firearms illegal/ take their firearms away. This rhetoric is exactly what fuels the fire.
Cortney Rogers Jr would still be alive today had the gun owner in question done what all responsible gun owners do with their firearm when it isn't in use: secure it with a barrel/trigger lock. The incidents in both the Bronx and Long Island were, most likely, both ILLEGAL guns to begin with, since NYC already has one of the most restrictive "gun control" laws in the nation, not to mention both of those incidents were *criminal* to boot, as were the incidents in NC and MI.
Gun control legislation applies only to we who abide by the law to begin with, people who shoot kids in the face don't care about the law to begin with.
Every time a child dies it is a heartbreaking tragedy, when that death occurs from stupidity (like two grown-ass men playing with a gun) doubly so. But to attempt to use the emotional reaction to attempt to cajole people into making a poorly thought out policy, well that's something else entirely. That's the same thinking that got us the USAPATRIOT act.
Wow you sound like I did before I gave up on the democratic party on this issue.
Sorry, public safety does not supercede the 2nd Ammendment.
Go to Japan if you don't like it here-- they only kill each other with knives.
HansUnfeit,
Your love it or leave it additude is a primitive additude which used to be called a redneck additude.
It requires love to persevere and work for effective changes which does make the social enviorment safer for defenseless children and to teach adults methods for solving problems in their lives which at the moments of crises which they may find themselves in, seem for them only solvable with the use of brut force..and of course it must also include the social gorilla government and all of the affiliated services associated with the gorilla.
I am quit sure the American society has a variety of such conflict resolution groups people can become a part of that exist not just in the prison institution system but out in society to assist them in their daily lives.
The prison system should be the last place people find themselves in such courses. And those people are there in the prison system because they were unable to solve a problem which exploded in their lives.
www.amnesty.org
www.soaw.org
Rolf Krogsæther
That Constitution can be so pesky, huh?
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