help me out! child accident death rates

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akodo

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okay guys, I am going to be seeing some friends in a few hours, and I don't have any time to chase down the stats myself, as I am dashing this off at work.

Here in MN we had a 6 year old shoot her 3 year old brother after finding dad's gun in dad's nightstand. Tragic and dumb, yes.

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/26318674.html

I can't find a link to it right now, but there is a MN law regarding leaving a gun where a kid can access it. To me, a good example of when this law should be used is when a drugdealer (or anyone really) keeps his gun stick in the couch cushions, but in a nightstand in a private bedroom, no I think that is a a stretch. Now, don't get me wrong, I advocate a Gunvault or similar device, but we have to allow certain individual discretion. Anyways they are wanting to charge him.

That isn't the only tragedy to befall a young child. A week ago a 6 year old drowned in an apartment complex swimming pool. I consider these events equally tragic

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/26213399.html

In both cases, parents weren't watching kid carefully enough (but then, you cannot watch your kid perfectly every second of the day) Both cases the kids got into dangerous stuff, and death was the result. I say if you are going to be charging the man for having the gun where a child could acess it, same should be said of the parents whose kid was able to access the pool.

My friends know I am pro-gun so I expect to be asked about it, that is why I'd love some assistance from you guys by giving me some good info on child accident rates. I know firearms are low, much lower than many other catagories, I just don't have time to do a lot of research. I suspect, however, that some of you guys have those studies bookmarked and ready to go.

So help me out, give me some ammunition
 
The National Safety Council's Injury Facts publication would be the best source; unfortunately, it's not available online without a subscription. But the NSC used to have the following page up on gun accident stats, though it has since been taken down.

http://www.nsc.org/xroads/Articles/5/qa-hoskin.htm

Q. Of all accidental injuries/deaths, what percent are caused by accidental gunshot? Also, what percent of childhood injuries/deaths are caused by gunshot?

A. There is a lot of confusion about the number of deaths and injuries associated with firearms; especially with regard to children. This is true in part because various writers do not define what they mean by "children," i.e., what age range they include. It is also sometimes not made clear whether the writer is including unintentional injuries, suicide, homicide, or all three.

The National Safety Council analyzed the most recent death certificate data (1997), and found that there were 95,644 total unintentional-injury deaths of which 981 (1.0%) were due to unintentional firearms injuries. For children under 5 years old, there were 20 unintentional firearms deaths which accounted for 0.7% of all unintentional-injury deaths in that age group. Among those 5 to 9 years old, there were 28 unintentional firearms deaths; 1.8% of all unintentional-injury deaths. For 10 to 14 year olds, 94 unintentional firearms deaths were 5.1% of total unintentional-injury deaths. And for older teens, 15-19 years old, there were 164 unintentional firearms deaths; 2.5% of all unintentional-injury deaths.
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It is also encouraging to note that the gun-accident rate has fallen by a further 40% since 1997. And since those stats include hunting accidents, as well as accidents involving criminals and substance abusers (who have a notoriously high accident rate on all fronts), the accident rate for nonhunting, law-abiding households with no substance abuse issues is likely even lower.

More info can be found here:

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvacci.html

Look at the chart on that page. TEN TIMES as many children 14 and under died in drowning accidents as in gun accidents.
 
benezra thanks, but your first link does not work.

anyways, am out the door, be back in a few hours, hopefully there will be some wonderful data
 
I understand where you're coming from but this isn't a gun problem as much as a patential responsiblity problem. In San Antonio recently a kid, about 6 if I recall, took Mother's car for a drive. He did a bit of damage. He should have been taught better. All children should know what's off limits. BTW, a good example of not teaching a kid about guns so they know better. My kids started learning gun safety before they were potty trained.
 
Maryland has the same law and the parent or person responsible for the gun is almost always charged, even if a police officer. The results will range from nol-pros to acquital to probation to (rarely) a jail term. To some extent, it depends on the way the person behaves and his intent on having the gun. Granted, it is something of a society "feel good" charge, in that it shows we are "doing something" to prevent such tragedies. Nothing can bring a dead child back to life or repair a severe injury.

I don't agree that where the gun is kept or whether the adult is engaging in criminal activity changes in any way the responsibility of the gun owner to keep his weapon away from children. As I noted, police officers are often the ones who leave their service pistols where their children can get to them, sometimes with tragic results.

Jim
 
I mentioned it was a dead link, but kept the link in anyway as it was the source of the quoted material. The author of that excerpt is the National Safety Council's senior statistic person (Hoskin), I believe.

The second link, to Guncite, does work, and there is some good data there.
 


2005, Minnesota
Unintentional Firearm Deaths and Rates per 100,000
All Races, Both Sexes, Ages 0 to 24
ICD-10 Codes: W32-W34

Age Group Number of
Deaths Population Crude
Rate
00-04 1* 343,211 0.29*
05-09 0* 332,657 0.00*
10-14 0* 357,857 0.00*
15-19 0* 373,255 0.00*
20-24 0* 370,106 0.00*
Total 1* 1,777,086 0.06*

While the death of any child is heart breaking, the cold numbers aren't what Brady and Company tout, but I included through age 24 since that's normally the age Brady/HCI stats cover to match their lies.

Here's the age 0-14 national stats for 2005 from CDC.


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My long-standing advice:

If you are going to keep a loaded gun in the home for emergencies...and there are or will be small children in the house...the only way to know where the gun is at all times is to keep it on you. Otherwise, it should be locked up until the children are no longer present. Secure it at night, so that it's hard to gain access to it without waking you up.
 
My long-standing rule:

If you are going to keep a loaded gun in the home for emergencies...and there are or will be small children in the house...the only way to know where the gun is at all times is to keep it on you. Otherwise, it should be locked up until the children are no longer present.
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That's a great rule.
I see no reason for anyone to ignore it, especially when there are products like GunVault on the market.
 


And I'm from the age where many homes had a SxS 12 guage sitting by the back door. I raised 3 sons and kept most of my firearms loaded and not stored in a safe.

No, I don't recommend that in this litigious age. Biometric handgun safes on the night stand would be a damned good answer today.

​
 
This shows of 117,809 accidental deaths in 2005 only 789 (.6%) were from firearms, and only 22 (.018%) of the toal were under age 5.

WOW!. Any accidental death, esp of a child is tragic, but only 22? In a country of more than 300 Million people? You are more likely to choke on a plastic bag.
 
My long-standing advice:

If you are going to keep a loaded gun in the home for emergencies...and there are or will be small children in the house...the only way to know where the gun is at all times is to keep it on you. Otherwise, it should be locked up until the children are no longer present. Secure it at night, so that it's hard to gain access to it without waking you up.
Click to expand...

Yep. Many people who know I am a gun enthusiast, assume I have guns laying all around the house and am just waiting on bad folks to break in. They are often surprised to hear they are locked up. They have been ever since my kids were big enough to get into trouble. I have a couple within fairly easy access, but locked up nonetheless. They still are. When I was single, and before kids was a different story.

I agree with Tuner, the only really safe place for a loaded gun is on your person, which is the only place you have total control.
 
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