This year, a staggering 43 incidents have been reported involving toddlers, aged three and under, unintentionally discharging firearms. According to recent statistics from a prominent news source, in 31 of these cases, the child accidentally shot themselves.
Take a moment to absorb that figure.
A recent article titled “Weekly Incidents of Gunfire by Toddlers,” highlights these shocking statistics: In 2015 alone, 13 toddlers unintentionally took their own lives with guns, while 18 suffered injuries, 10 caused harm to others, and 2 tragically killed someone else. These figures only reflect the incidents where toddlers were the ones actively holding the firearm. The numbers become even more alarming when considering all firearm-related fatalities among children.
Nicholas Hartman, in a thought-provoking piece for a major publication, pointed out that each year, more preschoolers die from gun violence than police officers do in the line of duty. This claim has been scrutinized, yet fact-checkers confirmed that firearm deaths among preschoolers outnumber those of law enforcement in every year since 2008. It’s a disturbing reality that is hard to ignore.
Addressing the issue of toddlers accessing firearms and the tragic outcomes is crucial. Implementing safe storage laws could significantly reduce these accidental shootings. Additionally, holding parents accountable for failing to securely store their weapons could be an essential step in preventing these tragedies. Shockingly, fewer than 20 states have enacted laws that hold adults criminally liable for improper gun storage leading to child access and subsequent harm.
Research conducted by Everytown for Gun Safety revealed that from December 2012 to December 2013, at least 100 children lost their lives in unintentional shootings—nearly two each week, with a 61% increase compared to federal data. Jon S. Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, emphasized the lack of comprehensive data regarding the number of times children inadvertently pull the trigger leading to fatalities.
For decades, Congress has prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from utilizing funds to advocate for or promote gun control. This prohibition is largely attributed to the lobbying power of the National Rifle Association, which argues that more firearms equate to increased safety. However, statistics consistently contradict this assertion, especially concerning children’s safety.
In light of the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Barack Obama vowed to pursue executive action to fund research on gun violence, but Congress has resisted funding these efforts, failing to pass even basic background-check legislation.
Our children are suffering because legislators refuse to implement necessary regulations on gun sales and safety. It’s unacceptable that we cannot even study the statistics surrounding these deaths. As pointed out in Hartman’s op-ed, the National Institutes of Health awarded significantly more grants for studying rabies and cholera than for researching firearm injuries.
Instead of pushing for the understanding and regulation needed to address our gun problem, victims and their families are often blamed for not knowing how to safely handle or store firearms. This sentiment is particularly heartbreaking for the family of a veteran who tragically lost her life due to an incident involving her own toddler.
If we truly trusted individuals to self-regulate their behavior with dangerous items, we wouldn’t need driver’s licenses, traffic laws, or fire safety regulations. Yet, when it comes to firearms, many resist any form of regulation, citing a violation of their rights. We must do better for the sake of our children.
43 shootings by toddlers this year alone. If that does not evoke a sense of shock, sickness, and outrage, it’s hard to understand what would.
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In summary, the ongoing trend of toddler-related shootings is a devastating issue that demands urgent attention and action. We owe it to future generations to establish safer environments and implement effective gun storage laws—after all, our children deserve better.
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