(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Murder by Toddler [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-06 phezisms Was that a crass title? Yeah, probably. I have statistics about gun violence in the USA in many of my posts and podcasts. I’m going to look through some resources on guns in the hands of toddlers/babies/very young children and comment on them. Firstly, guns are the #1 cause of death for children now. Here are some disgusting statistics for the USA! #1 in gun death RATES in industrialized nations. In 2018, we were about 32nd in the world. However, our gun deaths have risen quite dramatically to about 48,000 a year. I count suicides as gun violence deaths. Suicide and homicide/shootings are pretty much 50/50 for the total deaths. So we could well be in top 10 or higher in the world. Sheer numbers, we are #1. Death rates is where people can see it’s not just because of our higher population. The RATE is the horrifying part. Suicide is 90% effective when using a gun. No changing your mind, and we have made it drastically easier for kids, even as young as 10-13 to kill themselves. YES. The USA has high rates of gun suicide for YOUNG CHILDREN. This is REALITY. IT IS THE GUNS. NOT just the mental health stigma, the epidemic of bullying most schools refuse to really address, culture, gender roles, violence, increases in sexual assault, poverty, etc. etc. etc. IT IS THE GUNS. Guns are instant. Kill several in seconds, minutes. Brady United Key Statistics CNN Accidental Shooting Deaths 90% of guns used in accidental shootings in the home or mistaken for toys, were left UNLOCKED and LOADED (Scientific journal Injury Epidemiology) 8 out of 10 cases, the gun belongs to an older relative Over 40% of these unintentional deaths involve kids ages 2 to 4 Dr. Nichole Michaels, senior author of the study and principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (sounds important). She thinks we need to find out how to get parents to store the guns safely. How do we get them to embrace it? Especially if kids dying daily isn’t enough US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Guns is leading cause of death for children and teens For every child that dies due to gun violence, more than 2 more are treated in an ER for gun-related injuries Costing the USA healthcare system $109 million each year for initial hospitalizations. (Just initial ones. Tell me capitalists— how does the private health insurance system work again?) Literally, as I typed this up, a news article popped up indicating a 9-year-old had shot and killed a 6-year-old. I wonder what the pro gun lobby will say that will justify this many dead kids DAILY in the USA. Another study completed by the scientists at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio examined instances in which children and teens accidentally shot themselves or another child, resulting in a fatality. National Violent Death Reporting System Dr. Eric Fleeger, associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School says “It’s probably, to the best of my knowledge, the most comprehensive in-depth look at unintentional firearm fatalities among kids”. “People do not view guns as a safety risk. They view guns frequently as the exact opposite: as a mechanism for protecting their family. The notion that guns protect us and they don’t, potentially, put us at risk is where the troubling thought process begins”. Data from 2009-2018, 33 states , 279 cases in which kids under 15 accidentally died due to firearm injury. ONLY under 15 . Shooters over 15 or shooters with mental health struggles were NOT included. 64% of accidental gun deaths, happened in the victim’s home. Most cases the gun belonged to a relative and/or parent/guardian. Playing with the firearm or mistaking it for a toy were most common circumstances 92% of fatal shootings- guns were left loaded and unlocked. Most accidentally gun deaths were self-inflicted Kids under 5 years old- 8 out of 10 unintentionally shot themselves. Kids ages 10-14, nearly 1/3 of shooters were friends of the victims Over 92% of shooters were male; 80% of victims were males Societal expectations? Gender norms? Gender roles? Peer pressure? Dr. Chris Rees, physician and assistant professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at Emory University confirms his experiences matches these studies “ I see children very, very often in the emergency department, even 2 or 3 years old, who present after having been involved in a firearm accident of some sort. They come in shot in the foot, shot in the head, shot in the chest or shot anywhere because they don’t really understand what the firearm is what it’s capable of doing”. The American Academy of Pediatrics definitely agree that doctors should educate families about safe gun storage just like “car seats and bicycle helmets”. Due to increased pediatric gun injuries, several hospital ERs now provide free gun locks. They can’t be the only ones. Parents/Guardians also need education. Politicians and schools also have a role to play. Not every child is guaranteed a trusted adult to educate them about proper gun storage or just talking openly about guns. We have a lot of work to do. We have more toddlers shooting and killing kids in this country in one year, than countless countries have in decades. We have 8 KIDS. 8 KIDS DAILY! Being shot due to family fire— improperly stored or misused firearm. 8 EVERY FUCKING DAY. Commonwealth Fund Grim USA Gun Stats vs. the World The U.S. has the highest overall rate of death from firearms, nearly 5x that of France, the nation with the second-highest rate. Women are significantly more likely to be killed by a firearm in the U.S. than in other high-income countries. The U.S. is the only high-income country where the number of civilian-owned guns exceeds the total number of people. NPR Gun Deaths in Children Everytown has been tracking unintentional shootings by kids for six years. Cases of young children taking hold of a gun and mistakenly shooting themselves, a friend, or a family member happen almost every single day. There were at least 2,070 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 765 deaths from 2015 to 2020, according to the group's research. Forty-four percent of U.S. adults say they live in a household with a gun, including about a third who say they personally own one, according to a Gallup survey conducted in October 2020. Many articles do not include suicides in the gun death numbers. Which is wrong. Suicide is 90% effective with guns. It’s gun violence. No changing your mind. A lot of articles will have Brazil with 30,000+ plus more deaths than USA but that is not accurate. TOTAL with suicide for Brazil was 47.000 in 2018. USA was about 30,000. In 2023, USA is now at 48,000, or even more. 2021 says about 47,000, and the numbers keep going up and up. The USA now has about 11 mass shootings a week! USA! USA! What the USA can learn from these countries... USA is #1 in gun death rates for industrialized nations. Japan has about 10 shootings a year. .1 gun death rate (Japan has so few, the numbers are so miniscule, it’s .1 total) vs. USA 10.4 (4.1 homicide, 5.8 suicide) We have more toddlers murdering people with guns than any shooting deaths at all Analysis in 2015 found that the number of fatal shootings by police in Norway in the past nine years was less than the number of fatal shootings by US police officers in one day. 50 to 60 gun deaths a year in England and Wales, which have a population of 56 million. Compare that to the US, a country about 6x as large that has more than 160 times as many gun-related homicides. People say, hey cigarettes kill half a million a year, trillions aborted by penises, cancer, heart disease, alcohol is less than guns now, opioids, not lightning as people have told me. Sure, I get it. However, we have organizations that fight to end cancer and diseases, we should be just as disturbed by these numbers especially since guns are the #1 killer of children. Cigarettes is a vice. People have vices and pass away due to them. Not the same as gun slaughter. Again, responsible gun owners, without children running around, locking them up, you are not the problem and I never said you were. Clearly, many are not practicing gun safety and innocents are paying the price. People will full blown cardiac activity, walking, talking, contributing to society, educating themselves, shopping, and it’s disturbing how more people aren’t disturbed. Highest number of cops killing civilians. Weakest police training. You can be a cop with a gun on the street in 20 weeks. You can buy guns at 18. Not cigarettes. Or gamble, in most states. Or rent a car. Or get a hotel room. But, hey, thoughts are prayers to the children, the innocents, the communities, the families, who have been devastated and destroyed due to gun violence. Thank you for protecting our 2nd amendment rights. Which was ratified in 1791. Musket Mass Shooting Impact of Gun Violence [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/6/2193101/-Murder-by-Toddler?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/