Amanda --->Cold dead hands (or a lawyer), was Bowling for Columbine

[annemehr]

Joywitch wrote: 
> And I agree, Amanda, that teaching your kids respect for guns is a 
> good thing, and I trust you, personally, because I know that you 
are 
> smart and sensible, to keep the loaded rifles away from the 
> toddlers.  But the reason why the doctor asks you if you have guns 
is 
> because it *is* one the biggest threats to child safety in the 
U.S.  
> Thousands of kids are killed in gun accidents every year.  These 
are 
> not just freak accidents, which as you pointed out can happen 
> anywhere, anytime, but mostly they are caused by morons who leave 
> loaded guns or ammunition lying around where their uneducated kids 
> can get their hands on them.

You know, I have to wonder about the actual numbers on that, because 
that certainly doesn't jibe with my impressions that I get from the 
news (and I don't think this subject would tend to be underreported).

Thousands of kids *murdered* every year I can believe, but I hear of 
very few killed in gun *accidents*.  And the impression I have is 
that, of the murders, most are committed in some way other than with 
a gun, except, of course, for things like drive-by shootings.  
Speaking of which, how many of the children killed by guns are 
actually teenagers involved in something illegal (gangs, drugs or 
what have you)?  This is a separate category which would need a 
different approach than gun safety in the home.

And, anyway, what's a doctor doing when a child tells him there is a 
gun in his home?

Annemehr