Handguns in Households with Children Essay -- essays research papers

Handguns in Ho utilizationholds with ChildrenGuns in America argon a problem as bad as the drug problem 43% of households that have children have handguns in them 10 children die every sidereal day from handguns, approximately one every 2 hours. That is the same of a schoolroom of children every two days. Parents do not realize that children get the animal(prenominal) capacity to reach and discharge a firearm long in front the ability to understand the potential consequences of these actions. Parents who insist on keeping guns in the hearth should be urged strongly to store their firearms unloaded and locked in a secure place. Actions like these go forth reduce the probability of children being killed by a firearm. The presence of handguns in households with children frequently leads to contraband accidents, felo-de-ses, and murders.The majority of handguns unplowed in situations are NOT kept unhurtly locked up, simply because mint are stupid enough to deliberate that they read to be sufficient to access that gun as fast as possible in case of emergency. These people keep their guns in bedside drawers, closets, under mattresses. Most of the children who are involved in bootleg accidents are older children. In 1999, the well-nigh recent year which data are avail satisfactory, 34 children under the get along with of 5 died in gun accidents. Among children aged 5-9, there were 56 fatal gun accidents and among children aged 10-14, 146 fatal accidents. For instance, on July 21, 1999, in Lakepark, Florida, a 6-year-old son fatally shot his 5-year-old brother Corey Andrew Wilson, as the boys played with a shotgun they found under a bed in their grandparents bedroom. The surmount way to reduce gun risks is to remove guns from home.Candamo 2Children suicide has truly become a problem of outbreak proportions in America that must be addressed from every direction. As numerous studies have shown, children use guns in roughly two out of every three-s uicide take on, and handguns are utilize in 70% of these. In 1998 alone, 1200 youth in America act suicide with a gun, the same of one every seven hours. Children suicide attempts are usually impulsive acts, and the easier it is to carry out. Using a firearm in a suicide attempt drastically increases the likelihood that the attempt will be fatal. Simply having a gun in the home actually increases the chances of suic... ...ban or recall hundreds of products that cause injury or remainder to very small numbers of children, yet they will not breathe laws making guns safer because of the NRA. Maybe people may not be able to fight the NRA on the national level, but there are legion(predicate) cities and states that have already taken one step forward. Such a small number, however, is not enough to convince the politicians that they dont need the NRAs money or votes. The children need their help.In conclusion, despite the guidelines regarding safe firearm storage in homes with chil dren, a study reports less than one-half of gun-owning parents store their firearms safely. Many parents underestimate the risk of leaving their children in the home with an unlocked and loaded firearm. The gap between awareness and reality is curiously great for gun-owning parents. More gun-owning parents trust their children with a loaded gun and believe that their young child can tell the difference between a toy gun and a real gun. And in many cases they will not be able to tell the difference. So to have handguns in homes around children will sooner or later produce fatal accidents, suicides, and even murders.