Gun Accidents Each Year: Kills Around 500 Kids

by LarryDeezell | September 28, 2009 at 12:43 pm

6470 views | 34 Recommendations | 0 comments

In California, an 8-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his 2-year-old sister. Sgt. Charlie Spruill from the Wacaville Police said "It's a tragic case of a sibling who picked up a firearm, thinking it was a toy, pointed it at his sister and discharged one round from the firearm, striking her in the head."

But these aren't freak accidents. More than 500 children die annually from accidental gunshots. Some shoot themselves, while others kill friends or siblings after discovering a gun

Americans own 200 million firearms, and 35 percent of homes contain at least one gun. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study last year and found more than 1.7 million children live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns.

And if you do own a gun and think your kid won't get to it, listen to this: A recent study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found 39 percent of kids knew where their parents' guns were stored, while 22 percent said they had handled the weapons despite adults' warnings to stay away. What's more, age was not a factor in whether children had played with the guns -- 5-year-olds were just as likely to report doing so as
14-year-olds

Here are alot of heartbreaking cases:

• 4-year-old Dylan Jackson shot himself to death after finding a loaded gun at a friend's home during a birthday party.

• A 3-year-old Southeast Washington boy shot himself in the foot and grazed his hand while playing with his father's gun -- which he found lying on the floor.

• A 2-year-old Tampa boy shot himself in the chest with a loaded 9 mm he found in his parent's couch while playing.

• Last February, a 13-year-old boy shot himself with a semiautomatic handgun in the home of his guardian, a Maryland police officer.

• The 10-year-old son of a New York City police officer died after shooting himself in the face with his father's loaded revolver. The boy found the weapon on a shelf in the basement while looking for a ball his mom had hidden.

I've done a story about an 8 year old girl who was taken from her own home and raped and someone made a comment on children having guns to prevent what happened. Hopefully this article will keep guns in safe hands.