More than 500 children die annually for accidental gunshots.
What is 500? Is that 500 children out of 1000? Is that 500 children out of 500 million? There
will be accidents. The number of accidents will increase as human population increases. 500 can be a lot, or it can be little. Every life is precious, but in the grand scheme of things, a few lives lost don't amount to much compared to preserving the overall well fare of humanity. I understand you aren't against banning guns, so this is more of a message to anyone opposing guns because of the accidental deaths.
A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 1.7 millions children live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns.
If you are going to keep a hand gun by your bed in case someone breaks in, it's probably more beneficial to keep the gun in an open drawer than in a safe that takes 30 seconds to unlock. Not only that, but most people don't keep their gun safes in their bedroom. Granted, you can probably get away with keeping a gun in a lock box that opens with the turn of a key, but overall, does it really mean anything that guns are kept in unlocked drawers?
According to these statistics, 500 accidental deaths occur annually. 1.7 million households contain guns that are not locked up. 500 out of 1.7 million "
otential" hazard zones is barely a drop in the bucket.
Also a study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent medicine found out that 39% of the kids knew where their parents' guns were stored, while 22 percent said that they had handled the weapons despite adults' warnings to stay away.
I doubt the survey on children handling guns is even close to accurate, but if it is, then it merely proves that many parents are irresponsible when it comes to storing guns and that children are smarter than what people give them credit. Once again, I doubt the credibility of these particular statistics.
Everyone knows that you shouldn't ever let a child handle a gun, but these arguments don't really mean anything because they are measuring how many homes
could have an accident rather than comparing the chances with actual outcomes.
My opinion is that you should avoid having guns, when you have children, unless you really need it for your safety.
I believe the opposite is true. All guns should be locked up if you have children except any guns you wish to keep out for protection. If you own guns and you have children, then hiding a gun without letting your child know you have one is the most idiotic thing you can do. Parents should ALWAYS talk to their children about gun safety, especially those who own guns.
I grew up with my dad who is a hunter. He would often leave his hunting rifle out during hunting season. He started doing this when I was about 8. He never kept a loaded gun sitting out unless it was in his sights, but I had plenty of exposure to guns, which I bet is the main difference between me and those kids who killed themselves or other people on accident.
I bet you anything that most accidental gun deaths caused by children happen in families who don't allow their children to familiarize themselves with guns at all.
There's always a chance someone will get hurt, rather than hiding away dangers, it is best to teach children about them and to even expose them to those dangers in a controlled environment.
Loaded guns should be kept out of reach of children, but the best protection isn't to keep the guns hidden or locked up, but to teach the children about the guns.
