.
Most people who handle them think the opposite and that is how many household gun accidents occur. Too LITTLE fear of guns and too little respect for the fact that they can kill you in a way that really hurts.
In the United States, about 500 people die every year from accidental firearm discharges. I was unable to find a number for non-lethal injuries, but it's likely to be at least as high.
That's not terribly high, but it's still significantly more than the number of death/injuries from Kleenex boxes, hardcover books, Vornado fans, iPhone cases, cable modems, etc. (just looking at the objects in my immediate view).
I will maintain my healthy fear of guns, thank you very much (and, yes, I have fired some in my lifetime).
500? Where did you get that number?
Injuries from firearms send an estimated 7,000 kids to the ER every year, and an additional 3,000 children die from gunshot wounds before they can get to a hospital, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. Doctors are pointing to the new data as further evidence of the serious public health toll that gun violence takes on America’s youth.
The new study drilled down some of the data from a 2009 survey of kids’ pediatric stays. That year, the majority of kids’ gunshot injuries — 4,559 — resulted from intentional assaults with a firearm. An additional 2,149 were accidents, and 270 were suicide attempts. About six percent of the children who made it to the ER ended up dying in the hospital from their injuries, which are typically open wounds, fractures, or brain or spinal injuries.
“This study reinforces what we know from the mortality data,” Daniel Webster, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, told NBC News. “We have an extraordinary health burden in our youth associated with firearms injuries.”
Webster pointed out that the United States’ rate of mortality from firearms is about ten times higher than the rates in other wealthy nations. “This is a very unique and abnormal problem that such a wealthy nation should have such high mortality and morbidity in youth related to firearms,” he noted.
The number of kids being killed by guns in the U.S. has been steadily rising over the past several decades, and the issue has captured headlines as the number of school shootings has intensified. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) estimates that firearms are one of the top three causes of death among children, killing twice as many kids as cancer does. In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, which killed 20 young children, the AAP has stepped up its efforts to lobby for gun violence prevention.
How often have guns put holes in anything without someone pulling the trigger?
I know accidents happen but it is as rare as anything.
I am not at all afraid of guns, only some of the idiots that hold them.
i have had guns pointed at me so many times by people just handling them, looking at them, and when i say something the response almost always seems to be, "It's not loaded."
A properly trained, or even sensible person, should always know to not point the muzzle at anything you don't want to destroy. We always assume a gun is loaded. A couple of mine are loaded, since I live alone I don't mind if they are all loaded but if I had a family, the guns would be locked in a safe and the ammunition in another safe.
I can respect that. You tried it.
Does this also mean you are afraid to walk up to an armed police officer?
I would like to see case by case what caused these "accidental shootings" in any one year. I hallucinate that in many if not most cases, it was neglect of proper firearm safety rules by the gun owner. I advocate for everyone to be trained before purchasing one.
The approximately 500 number is (so far as I can tell) the number for accidental discharges were the gun is not being wielded by someone.
Yes, the number of deaths/injuries from people being stupid with guns is ALSO way too high.
OS, I knew it was something I was not catching there.
@Camel -- Yes, I am more nervous walking up to an armed police officer than I am walking up to a random apparently-unarmed stranger.
Given how quickly some officers reach for their guns when the situation doesn't warrant it, I think that's a reasonable fear.
I think gun ignorance is a better term for accidental shootings. Anyone with any common sense should keep guns out of reach of children until such age they are trained and shown they can handle it safely. in my opinion, at no point should a child (anyone under 18) touch a handgun.
My grandfather grew up hunting with a 22 rifle from age 10 on, back then kids knew how to handle a gun in the area I grew up, it was often necessary for them to go hunting just to survive. I also provided a lot of meat for my single mother who was raising 4 of us. Since I had a younger brother and sister, I always kept my guns out of their reach but even they knew guns weren't a thing to play with. My mother sold my dad's handguns very shortly after he died.
Camel, you are just all over the place here. What are you trying to say?
What does being afraid of walking up to an armed cop have to do with anything?
I'm losted.
