General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAt Least 194 Children Have Been Shot to Death Since Newtown
This is your country on guns.A year after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Mother Jones has analyzed the subsequent deaths of 194 children ages 12 and under who were reported in news accounts to have died in gun accidents, homicides, and suicides. They are spread across 43 states, from inner cities to tiny rural towns.
Following Sandy Hook, the National Rifle Association and its allies argued that arming more adults is the solution to protecting children, be it from deranged mass shooters or from home invaders. But the data we collected stands as a stark rejoinder to that view:
127 of the children died from gunshots in their own homes, while dozens more died in the homes of friends, neighbors, and relatives.
72 of the young victims either pulled the trigger themselves or were shot dead by another kid.
In those 72 cases, only 4 adults have been held criminally liable.
At least 52 deaths involved a child handling a gun left unsecured.
Additional findings include:
60 children died at the hands of their own parents, 50 of them in homicides.
The average age of the victims was 6 years old.
More than two-thirds of the victims were boys, as were more than three-quarters of the kids who pulled the trigger.
The problem was worst over the past year in the South, which saw at least 92 child gun deaths, followed by the Midwest (44), the West (38), and the East (20).
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/12/children-killed-guns-newtown-anniversary
freshwest
(53,661 posts)BainsBane
(53,012 posts)At will concealed carry has been expanded, as has Stand your Ground. It seems the gun lobby sees national tragedies like Newtown as an opportunity to expand their influence and of course increase profits for gun manufacturers.
seattledo
(295 posts)Is there any requirement in them to verify the age of the intended victim?
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Obviously I'm talking about the people that decide to kill children because they think the stand your ground laws give them the right to kill anyone, anywhere. I know gun owners have no respect for children, but I was asking if the laws required them to.
Ranchemp.
(1,991 posts)Really? You really want to go there?
What kind of an idiot would claim that?
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Last edited Sun Dec 15, 2013, 06:25 PM - Edit history (1)
I don't believe the age of the victim is a factor in the law per se. SYG changes the standard of self defense to make retreat, even when safe, unnecessary. A judge in a SYG hearing, however, would have to believe the shooter had a reasonable fear for his life, which likely becomes less convincing as the victim is younger. Whether pre-teens have been killed by shooters invoking SYG, I don't know. I seem to recall an unsuccessful case with a ten year old boy in Texas, but I'm not sure how that was ultimately resolved.
valerief
(53,235 posts)All non-ruling class ppl are expendable.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)madinmaryland
(64,931 posts)BainsBane
(53,012 posts)seveneyes
(4,631 posts)"60 children died at the hands of their own parents, 50 of them in homicides."
WillyT
(72,631 posts)davidpdx
(22,000 posts)Kick and rec
tblue
(16,350 posts)Amen, my brother. But it's not enough for too many Americans.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)It's up to the multibillion dollar gun lobby.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)very powerful!
and thank you for sharing
Thanks for keeping the necessity for more stringent gun control measures on the front burner where it belongs. We have a long way to go, but we're off to a great start and the momentum will continue to grow as the American people become more aware of the right-wing NRA-enabled gun menace to our society.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)calimary
(81,119 posts)DAMN guns.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Damned and demonic. They exist for no purpose other than to kill.
countryjake
(8,554 posts)Both here and at YouTube!
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Let's not forget who this is about.
Packerowner740
(676 posts)Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)I hate guns and I wouldn't shed a tear if every gun was banned and confiscated.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)How long have you felt that way?
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)I absolutely hate guns.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)In Bachmann country?
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)Not so well.
I have a classmate who is a card-carrying NRA member and he and I get into it all the time. It's hard to be professional to him because he's a fellow grad student.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)What field are you studying in grad school?
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)I'll have my Master's in May.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Will you get a PhD?
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)In this field, a PhD will be pointless, unless one goes into academia. It's almost impossible to find a job in academia these days.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)I guess wherever I can get a job.
I'll start applying to places at the end of February.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)So you're not talking about anthropological digs?
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)That means that if something like a cell phone tower, parking lot, highway, bridge expansion, highway being put down, whatever, will be put down in an area, by law an archaeology team will have to go to the site and investigate to see if there are any cultural resources (e.g. archaeological artifacts) at those sites and find ways to mitigate and protect the site, if possible. If that cannot be done, then all the cultural resources are collected and stored.
The cool archaeology that many people see on tv is academic archaeology. That's something I would love to do, but it requires a PhD. That'll be another six years of school and I'll almost be 40 by the time I'd get that done, if that's the path I chose to do. I still may choose to do that if I don't like cultural resources management.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Even if you got a PhD and a tenure track job, you'd need to get grants to fund digs, and those are highly competitive.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)But I think getting the tenured track job would be harder to get than the grants.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)There are a lot of grants for junior faculty. The problem is digs are so costly that little of the available funding is adequate.
Loudly
(2,436 posts)That is what keeps this insanity reigning supreme in this country.
defacto7
(13,485 posts)etc. etc. etc................................................
........
matt819
(10,749 posts)How many children have been killed with guns in other countries in the developed world? My guess? Zero, or pretty close to it.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Our homicide rate is much higher, so it follow that rates of children killed with guns would likewise be much lower in other developed nations.
moondust
(19,959 posts)and the profits made off it are more important than your childrens' lives.
Just ask Congress.
BainsBane
(53,012 posts)funded by the gun industry to pay off pols to ensure the unfettered profits of the gun industry.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)BainsBane
(53,012 posts)While in the US 32,000 people continue to die each other from guns, all because of the powerful, wealthy gun lobby and its backers.
The wealthy gun lobby and its backers are directly responsible for the growing epidemic of gun violence in this country. They use the Big Lie (Democrats will take your guns) very effectively as a ruse to pass insane laws which allow the proliferation of guns on our streets, and free-fire killing zones disguised as SYG, and "self-defense" vigilantism as based on the NRA-scripted alibi of the killer (see Zimmerman).
napkinz
(17,199 posts)BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Colorado passed it and the NRA has gone full loaded after the state legislators who supported it. All they care about is profits from guns. Death is just an opportunity for the gun lobby to profit.
hack89
(39,171 posts)because they grandfathered in all existing magazines. Since magazines do not have serial numbers or date of manufacture stamps, it is impossible to tell a legal magazine from an illegal one.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)BainsBane
(53,012 posts)napkinz
(17,199 posts)"It's been 20 years since the Brady Law was passed. But 40% of gun sales still don't require a background check. Tell Congress to stop helping bad guys get guns."
http://www.bradycampaign.org/?q=finish-the-job
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)misinformation for low information people and I support background checks.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)BainsBane
(53,012 posts)Guns actually kill 32,000 Americans every year.