When the news reports mass shootings, or even the shooting of a single man or woman, the NRA celebrates. Its only purpose for existence is to increase the sale of weapons of mass destruction, and stories of this type produce just that.

When the story of a child gaining access to a loaded weapon and harming or killing another child or an adult is reported, they ignore it.

Until 1976 the NRA had a genuine purpose. They were our nation’s number one gun safety advocate, and wrote many of the laws we have today. They were particularly concerned with gun safety in the home. To prevent children from harming themselves or others, they offered logical advice. Keep the weapon unloaded and locked in a safe place. Place the ammunition in a separate locked area. Problem solved.

Today the NRA believes that this is unnecessary. Using fear tactics, they now claim that guns should be kept loaded and accessible at all times.

Owning a weapon offers a great responsibility. Any adult who has children in their home on a regular basis must take precautions to prevent a disastrous accident.

Monica Abeyta kept a loaded gun in her home in Colorado Springs. Saturday afternoon, her two-year-old may have paid the price for her lack of setting safety standards in her own home.

Abeyta also has a three-year-old. The older child obtained the loaded weapon, and shot his brother, who is in stable but serious condition at a local hospital.

Abeyta was arrested for child abuse. She should have been charged with child endangerment, and her older child remanded to the custody of Child Protective Services. If the younger boy survives they should both be taken away from her indefinitely.

This is another growing problem in the United States, but statistics are not kept by law enforcement agencies. The only reliable source is from local newspapers. In 2016 an estimated 200 children accessed handguns and harmed themselves, other children or adults. It is unforgivable that even a single child was involved in gunfire. Sadly, in the most violent society in the developed world, it has become the norm to learn about mass shootings, which involves four or more individuals, and the shooting of women and children by someone they know. In 2015 and 2016, there were more mass shootings than days on the calendar.

Please re-post; thank you.

Op-ed

by James Turnage

Source

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