Reply #94: Uh [View All]

[pipoman]

I didn't say this is the swimming pools forum, a question was asked and answered.

"What do you know about the positions anyone here takes on "swimming pool restrictions or bans"?"

Not a thing. There aren't too many gun control advocates who use the lame justification for suspension of the second "for the children" either, but they do wander through occasionally. None to date have directed me to their work/advocacy in the field of swimming pool restrictions to bring down the 1.4 per 100k drowning deaths in the US of A. Gee, just imagine a drowning rate of, say, .70 per 100k. I admittedly don't know how many of the 856 drownings in 2005 were in private swimming pools, but it would be safe to say that many of the 856 were. We obviously aren't going to get rid of bathtubs...though why not. A shower works just fine for me, couldn't have been too many of those drownings happen in a shower. There are the waterless toilets available which would completely eliminate the chance for toilet drownings. People don't NEED bathtubs or toilets with water now do they.





Here, try it yourself.

http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html

"There are swimming pool restrictions, where I'm at."

There are swimming pool and gun restrictions where I'm at too, they just aren't good enough, obviously, because they still kill far too many children.

"Home swimming pools provide all sorts of benefits for children: physical exercise, fresh air and sunshine, skills development, socialization; rather an excellent alternative to sitting in front of a video game unit, playing in traffic or selling drugs on street corners."

We don't disagree on that. I don't advocate the banning or further restrictions on pools, though I wouldn't miss private swimming pools at all.

Hunting and the shooting sports provide all sorts of benefits for children: physical exercise, fresh air and sunshine, skills development, socialization; rather an excellent alternative to sitting in front of a video game unit, playing in traffic or selling drugs on street corners.

"Did anyone here ever suggested that a risk-free environment is desirable, let alone possible? Has anyone ever suggested that when balancing risks and benefits, any risk should always outweigh all benefits?"

There are some people who advocate certain positions willing to restrict freedoms which they choose not to exercise or activities they choose not to participate in predicated on an assertion of being "for the children" with no acknowledgment that some kids benefit greatly from those activities.

"Has anyone here yet demonstrated a benefit to children in having unsecured firearms in a home?"

People whose kids are shot accidentally in a home by using an unsecured firearm usually end up like this guy:

"A man whose 5-year-old son accidentally shot and killed his sister was arrested at the cemetery before the little girl's burial.
James Michael Booher faces charges that include child neglect for allegedly leaving a semiautomatic handgun where his son could find it."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x171288

It is already illegal in most states to leave an unsecured firearm available to a child.

The point is that there are laws in place for nearly every scenario. There are risks in society. Some people tend to exaggerate the statistical risks and make idiotic claims of certain activities in an effort to calm their own fears.