Yeah, really makes your family safer...

Just remember:

In 1993, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an article by Arthur Kellerman and colleagues, “Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home,” which presented the results of research funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study found that keeping a gun in the home was strongly and independently associated with an increased risk of homicide. The article concluded that rather than confer protection, guns kept in the home are associated with an increase in the risk of homicide by a family member or intimate acquaintance. Kellerman was affiliated at the time with the department of internal medicine at the University of Tennessee. He went on to positions at Emory University, and he currently holds the Paul O’Neill Alcoa Chair in Policy Analysis at the RAND Corporation.

The 1993 NEJM article received considerable media attention, and the National Rifle Association (NRA) responded by campaigning for the elimination of the center that had funded the study, the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention. The center itself survived, but Congress included language in the 1996 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Bill (PDF, 2.4MB) for Fiscal Year 1997 that “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”  Referred to as the Dickey amendment after its author, former U.S. House Representative Jay Dickey (R-AR), this language did not explicitly ban research on gun violence. However, Congress also took $2.6 million from the CDC’s budget — the amount the CDC had invested in firearm injury research the previous year — and earmarked the funds for prevention of traumatic brain injury. Dr. Kellerman stated in a December 2012 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Precisely what was or was not permitted under the clause was unclear. But no federal employee was willing to risk his or her career or the agency's funding to find out. Extramural support for firearm injury prevention research quickly dried up.”

Why cut the research if the facts actually did show that guns in the home made your family safer?

Accidental Firearm Deaths are Under-reported by 100%

The New York Times

A New York Times review of hundreds of child firearm deaths found that accidental shootings occurred roughly twice as often as the records indicate, because of idiosyncrasies in how such deaths are classified by the authorities. The killings of Lucas, Cassie and Alex, for instance, were not recorded as accidents. Nor were more than half of the 259 accidental firearm deaths of children under age 15 identified by The Times in eight states where records were available. 

 As a result, scores of accidental killings are not reflected in the official statistics that have framed the debate over how to protect children from guns.

This bears repeating since some of our favorite commenters still seem to not get it.

In re-posting this I wondered if in the same way the number of gun deaths could be under-reported.

Oklahoma 3-Year-old Dead - He Found a Gun in the House

Local news reports

A 3-year-old boy is dead after shooting himself in the head early Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The boy was visiting a relative at a home in the 1500 block of Derby Lane, about four miles southeast of Guthrie. He found a loaded handgun in a bedroom, Logan County sheriff's Capt. Richard Stephens said.

Stephens said the call came in just after noon. He said criminal charges will not be filed.

I don't care if you divide the number of accidental shootings by all the guns in the whole world, they're still too many. I say this because they are PREVENTABLE.

The first thing that needs to change is the nonchalance with which we treat so-called gun accidents. Then we need to adopt a one-strike-you're-out policy so at least we'll cut down on the repeat offenders.  And finally, we need proper gun control laws, a comprehensive system which is long overdue.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Life's little ironies or poetic justice?

Grayston Garcia who was given a free pass for murder under Florida's licence to kill law was accidentally shot:

Garcia — driving the same black truck that Roteta (the man Garcia killed) broke into — drove away to get the change for his boss just past 9 p.m., a routine request. The truck was returning, north on 15th Avenue. when the gunfire erupted.
“I heard about 10 shots,” Abdul recalled.
A round entered the passenger’s side window. Garcia’s truck veered off the road, between two light poles and a fence, and crashed into a parked black van just across the street from the market.
Miami police was likely an innocent victim struck down when two rival gangs began shooting at each other. The shooting also claimed the life of 16-year-old Ron Dwayne Jones, whose body was found nearby.
So far, no arrests have been made. Abdul said Jones was a customer, but that Garcia did not interact with him much.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/27/2870294_p2/miami-man-freed-in-controversial.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/27/2870294/miami-man-freed-in-controversial.html?story_link=email_msg#storylink=cpy

More than 300 people in the United States were struck by stray bullets

Youth Today has a story about a study by researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis which was published in The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.

The study calculated the frequency of stray-bullet shootings during an 11-month period – a phenomenon, according to researchers, that resulted in at least 317 injuries.

Garen Wintemute, professor of emergency medicine and director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis conducted the research, which was partially funded by the California Wellness Foundation and the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation.

Using data collected from news alert services such as Google Alerts, in addition to GunPolicy.org archives, Wintemute and his colleagues tracked stories containing the term “stray bullet” for nearly one year, ultimately counting 284 shootings in which people were injured or killed by stray bullets.

The study defines a stray-bullet shooting any instance in which a bullet escapes the immediate scene of the shooting and results in the injury of at least one person either by directly striking the victim or through associated “secondary mechanisms,” such as injuries sustained from glass shattered by a bullet.

According to the study, 81 percent of victims injured in the stray-bullet shootings included in their research were either unaware of the events or totally disconnected from the events that resulted in gunfire. Stray bullets killed 65 people during the research period, with more than 84 percent of the victims dying the day they were shot and some 27.7 percent dying at the scene of the shooting.

Wintemute encourages “hot-spot policing” – increased enforcement of firearm laws in areas with high levels of gun violence – as a means of curbing stray-bullet shootings.

“Wearing body armor or taking other extreme protective measures is just not practical on a widespread scale, so we need to look at other ways to help communities feel safe from such events,” he said. “Given that these stray-bullet shootings are a byproduct of gun violence in general, it’s plausible that if you prevent the violence, you’ll prevent the stray-bullet shootings.”

I just figured out where all out commenters have gone...

From Ohh Shoot!:

Man unintentionally shoots and kills himself while showing relatives the gun he kept with his concealed carry permit

Guess he didn't realise that firearms were deadly weapons that result in death and/or serious bodily injury when used correctly.

Or in the hands of idiots.

Accidental Shooting of Maryland 6-Year-Old - Charges Pending

The Washington Post reports

A 6-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes in the Clinton area Monday afternoon, and Prince George’s County homicide detectives are considering filing charges against a 20-year-old who lived with the boy and apparently brought the gun to the house, authorities said.

Although the criminal investigation is in its early stages, detectives think that the 6-year-old found the revolver in a backpack belonging to a 20-year-old who also lived in the Arbutus Lane home, police said. That 20-year-old, Davis said, does not appear to be a relative of the boy, and detectives are probing his relationship to the boy’s family.

Every day, day after day. The pro gun response is that accidents will always happen, just like criminals will always get guns. They would have us do nothing about it lest it cause them a bit of inconvenience.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

More on the San Antonio "Accidental" Shooting

When we wrote about this one the other day, no charges had been filed. That's changed.

Local news reports

Accidental Shooting of South Carolina Man at Gun Range by Himself - He's Dead

local news reports

The man who accidentally shot himself at Trader World Gun Shop has died of his injuries.

Around 5 p.m. on Monday North Charleston police responded to the gun shop's range located on Cross County Road.

The victim has been identified by the Charleston County Coroner's Office as 60-year-old Benny Patterson of North Charleston. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Witnesses told police that the Patterson was shooting on a lane when he stopped to inspect the weapon. He turned the handgun toward himself and then it discharged, striking him.

What do you think? Lawful gun owners are supposed to be responsible, that's what they keep telling us. The problem is many of them are not.

Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of JSU Student Near Campus - No Charges

The Clarion Ledger reports

Residents of an apartment complex within walking distance from the Jackson State University campus say they’re in shock after the shooting death of a JSU freshman at a pool party there early Sunday.

The complex is primarily populated by college students.

What's your opinion? Is this a good illustration why guns should not be allowed on campuses? Yes, it is.

Please leave a comment.

Hannah Kelley Dead of Her Wounds

our earlier post

NY Daily News reports

Hannah Kelley, 20, had been clinging to life after her injury in a freak accident last Sunday at Grace Connection Church in Lealman, which is led by her father, Tim Kelley.

"FREAK ACCIDENT," is that what they're calling it?

A freak accident is when the hubcap of a passing car comes off and hits your gun like a frisbee, causing a discharge. That's a freak accident. In this case Old Moises forget there was a round in the chamber, violating one of the 4 Rules and then another Rule was violated when someone touched the trigger.

But, in Florida they call that a "freak accident."

What's your opinion? Mine is that Moises should go to jail for a little while and lose his right to own and use guns for life.  That's what the One-strike-you're-out rule is all about. 

Please leave a comment.

Update: Muzzle- loading Rifle Accidental Discharge Killed the Ohio Amish Girl

The issue of where a projectile from a firearm goes was the subject of recent posts and comments, particularly as to the lack of safety in firing a hand gun in a WalMart to stop a stabbing.
The distances involved in this firearm death should be a lesson to all of those who pride themselves on how safe they believe themselves to be with their weapons.  It also goes to illustrate why those of us who would like to see unfit individuals not have firearms at all, and greater accountability for those who do meet the higher threshold for gun ownership that we advocate.  This tragedy serves to underline that these are weapons, including black powder and muzzle loading firearms, not toys, not fetish objects.

From Msnbc.com and the AP:

Ohio sheriff: Accident led to Amish girl's death

A man cleaning his muzzle-loading rifle accidentally shot and killed the girl, who was driving a buggy more than a mile away

 

updated 12/20/2011 12:43:10 PM ET

FREDERICKSBURG, Ohio — A man cleaning his muzzle-loading rifle shot the gun into the air, accidentally killing a 15-year-old Amish girl driving a horse-drawn buggy more than a mile away, a sheriff said Tuesday.

Rachel Yoder was shot in the head Thursday night while traveling to her home in Wayne County, between Columbus and Akron. She had attended a Christmas party for employees, most of them under 18 years old, at an Amish produce farm and was riding home alone when she was shot, Wayne County sheriff's Capt. Douglas Hunter said.
Hunter said his department had traced a trail of blood along the road for about three-eighths of a mile into Holmes County in an area of farms and rolling hills.
Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly said investigators figured out what happened after the gun-cleaner's family came forward and after his neighbors reported hearing a shot at about the time the girl was wounded.
The man had fired the gun in the air about 1.5 miles from where Yoder was shot, Zimmerly said. State investigators were checking the rifle for a ballistics match, he said.
"In all probability, it looks like an accidental shooting," Zimmerly said.
No charges have been filed.

Yoder was born in nearby Mount Eaton and attended the Old Order Amish Church, The (Wooster) Daily Record reported. She is survived by her father, 10 brothers and sisters, 26 nieces and nephews and two grandparents.
Hunter said earlier there was no indication the shooting was related to a rash of beard-cutting attacks against Amish men in a feud over church discipline.
Still, the mystery of the shooting in the wake of the beard-cutting attacks had left the Amish shaken and "on pins and needles," Zimmerly said.
Zimmerly said he informed the Yoder family that the shooting appeared to be accidental.
"Obviously, that makes them feel a lot better than if someone might have been targeting the Amish or (if it was) a random shooting murder," he said.
Gun violence in Amish communities is rare but not unheard of. A man shot 10 schoolgirls, killing five, inside a one-room schoolhouse five years ago in Nickel Mines, Pa. The Amish were praised for their forgiveness after the shooting and reaching out to comfort the gunman's widow.