Yet Another Tragedy Comitted with Firearms

Would someone potentially have gotten hurt, if firearms hadn't been available? Possibly, but firearms are more lethal than most other weapons, and they are too readily available. Had the aggressor had to rely on a bladed weapon, for example, it would seem far less likely that anyone would have been killed. Not to pretend that injuries are not also serious, but they're preferable to people being killed, like this.

From MSNBC.com andthe Chicago Tribune:

Officer checks out murder scene, finds stepson dead

By msnbc.com

Chicago police Sgt. Darwin Butler was working his midnight shift on Nov. 27, according to the Chicago Tribune, when a routine call came in: A victim had been shot while driving a white Chevrolet.
Butler drove his squad car to the scene, and briefly shined his flashlight on the driver's face, he told The Chicago Tribune. It was a young African-American man, unresponsive, with a bullet wound to the shoulder in a vehicle that looked vaguely familiar.
"I never looked at the person to be anyone that I knew because I see (gunshot victims) so often working the streets like that," Butler later said to The Tribune. "And my first thought was, 'Wow. Another person potentially lost their life.'"
Suddenly he heard a woman screaming, "That's my sister's boyfriend, Darius!", and it hit him: This was indeed his stepson, Darius Parish, 20, the boy he had raised since he was 8.
"I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. I had to look at him again," Butler told The Tribune.
Parish was home on Thanksgiving break from college when the shooting happened. Four others, including a baby, were in the car at the time. One other friend got shot in the arm, but no one else in the car was hurt, according to The Tribune.
No arrests have been made. A funeral was held on Monday in Chicago.
Efforts to reach Sgt. Butler by msnbc.com were not successful. An operator at his precinct said he was not expected in on Tuesday, but Butler told The Tribune his stepson's death has motivated him to improve his community even more.
"I'm going to keep fighting. I'm going to keep trying to make a difference," he said.
Read the full Chicago Tribune story here.

Firearm injuries to kids underestimated, study shows

A new study shows that the rate of non-fatal firearm injuries in kids is 30 percent higher than previous estimates.The study showed that there are 20,600 firearm injuries, including 8,368 injuries resulting in death, in people age 19 and younger that happen each year. More than a third of these injuries - 37 percent - were unintentional.The study, based on the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care survey, was presented in Boston on Monday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

What sorts of things can parents do to protect kids from firearms?

The academy says the best strategy is never to have a gun in the home. Parents who do choose to keep guns in the home should make sure they are unloaded and locked up and that guns and bullets are stored separately under lock and key. Parents should tell their children to stay away from guns and should find out if there are guns in other homes where their children play.

See also:

• Gun Safety for Kids and Youth