If one small child gains access to a loaded gun in the United States, and harms itself or someone else, it should be front page news. It has become so common, it’s not even reported. It’s not the child’s fault, it is the fault of a stupid gun owner. Sadly, they are seldom punished.
As of May 2nd at least 23 people in the United States have been shot with a gun by a toddler. There may be more; many go unreported.
Now let’s think about this. How did a ‘baby’ get hold of a gun? And did the child load it himself, or did he have an accomplice? The NRA would say that this is another case of ‘guns don’t kill people, people kill people,’ when in reality it’s a case of ‘a child with a gun shoots people.’
So far in 2016, 18 toddlers shot themselves; fortunately, none of them died. Of the other five shot by toddlers two, died from their wounds.
When the NRA was a gun safety organization before 1976, it wrote many of the gun laws we have today. If parents, relatives, or friends chose to keep weapons in their home, the NRA offered safe and sane steps to protect small children. They were simple and if these idiot adults had followed those suggestions, none of these toddlers or others would have been harmed.
The NRA advised consumers that guns should never be loaded while stored in the home. In addition, the weapon and its ammunition should be kept in separate, locked containers, cabinets, or gun lockers. Today’s NRA does not believe in this practice; now that it is a lobby for gun manufacturers and gun sellers; it is only concerned about Americans owning more guns. The NRA will only be happy when every man woman and child in the United States owns a weapon of mass destruction. There are over 320 million people in America, and nearly 400 million guns are in the possession of just over 10 percent of our nation’s people.
I hope the gun nuts read this. I receive hate mail every time I write an article about gun laws. But this is about the safety of your children. If your child obtains access to a loaded weapon and shoots itself or someone else, it should be a felony, and you should go to jail for a long time. Child Protective Services should immediately take your children into custody, if they are alive, and you should be charged with child endangerment.
I have no patience with stupidity. Conservatives in our nation constantly espouse family values; values they eventually prove do not in fact exist. There is absolutely no excuse for negligence, especially when an innocent child is involved.
Recently, two women were shot in the back by their sons. A woman has been sentenced to five years in jail after her two-year-old accessed her pistol and discharged the weapon; she survived.
A Florida woman, who is a pro-gun activist, was shot in the back when her four-year-old who was sitting in the back seat of her truck found a loaded weapon on the floor. She has not been charged with a crime; there’s no cure for stupid.
Owning a lethal weapon is considered a right, but it should be a privilege. Far too many of our American people lack the intellect to own such dangerous toys.
Op-Ed
By James Turnage
Read James Turnage at http://www.amazon.com/By-James-turnage/e/B00LOCJ2Z2
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