3-year-old S.C. boy killed after mistaking pink handgun for toy

[slapshot]

Accrding to the CDC's data for 2007 the number of unintentional deaths due to firearms in children ages 0-14 was 46, not 122.

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pd...nal_2007-a.pdf

Baloney. Anytime I see large blocks of age groups, which have no data, means to me that those statistics have been rolled into another category.

There's no "unintentional deaths" by guns, below the age of 5, and above the age of 14. An anomoly? Very unlikely. It's pretty clear they simply classified all those as suicides.

From another source, in 2008: Children between the ages of 1-18

162 accidental or undetermined

In 2009:

138 accidental or undetermined

http://www.childrensdefense.org/chil...-guns-2012.pdf


Google any of these to check for yourself, that accidental deaths, by guns, of very young children is more common than you might think.

For example (first one on the Pediatrics list):

http://www.komu.com/news/cooper-coun...-gun-accident/

•a 2-year-old in Cooper County, Missouri, died after shooting himself in the head with a handgun that "he got a hold of" in his house.
•a 3-year-old in Loris, South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach, died after shooting himself in the head with a pistol that he found in the car.
•a 5-year-old in Belleville, Illinois, near St. Louis, was accidentally shot in the head with a shotgun by his 10-year-old brother.
•a 3-year-old in Maryland Heights, Missouri, near St. Louis, who shot himself once in the chest, died. He found the gun in his parents bedroom, one of whom is a police officer.
•a 2-year-old was shot in the head by his 5-year-old brother in Connersville, Indiana who was playing with a gun he found in a bedroom. The boy, a twin, died of the gun shot.
•a 3-year-old in St. Louis, Missouri who died after she shot herself in the head with a gun she found tucked between two mattresses.
•a 6-year-old who was shot and killed by his 11-year-old stepbrother, in what was initially thought to be an accident, but the boy is now facing possible murder charges. The two boys were left home alone at the time of the shooting in Martinsville, Indiana.
•a 10-year-old in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi died after he shot himself with his grandfather's gun that he found in his nightstand. He would have been going into the fifth grade next fall.
•a 15-year-old from Cherry Hill, Baltimore was shot in the head and killed by a 12-year-old friend who was playing with the gun during a sleepover.
•a 5-year-old from Bossier City, Louisiana found a loaded handgun a cabinet in his home, and accidentally shot and killed himself.
•a 2-year-old near Fresno, California found a loaded, semi-automatic handgun in his home, walked into a bedroom with the gun, and it fired, striking and killing his 6-year-old sister.
•a 3-year-old in South Carolina was shot in his upper boy by his uncle who was cleaning his gun when it accidentally fire. The toddler died in emergency surgery.
•a 2-year-old in Georgia was shot in the back by a 9 or 10-year-old who found a gun in a van they were all playing in while the toddler's family was preparing to move to a new apartment.
•a 2-year-old in Phoenix was shot in the face with a handgun by her 8-year-old brother, who thought he was playing with a toy gun he found on the floor of his grandfather's apartment.
•a 3-year-old in Summerville, South Carolina who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her head after finding a loaded, unsecured handgun on the window sill of her parent's bedroom
•a 5-year-old in Telferner, Texas who shot his 4-year-old brother in the abdomen with a rifle they were playing with in their home. His brother died from the gun shot wound.
•a 2-year-old in Missouri who died after he accidentally shot himself in the head after finding a loaded handgun on a shelf in the closet of his parent's bedroom
•an 11-year-old in Indianapolis who was accidentally shot by his brother
•three children in Houston who were hurt when a 6-year-old accidentally fired a gun he had brought to school
•an 8-year-old in Alabama who died from an accidental shotgun blast
•a 2-year-old in Vermont who died after he was accidentally shot with a rifle by a sibling
•a 10-year-old who lost use of his right eye after being shot by an older teen cousin while they were playing with a gun that they thought was unloaded
•a 3-year-old in North Carolina who shot and killed himself
•a 4-year-old who accidentally shot a 12-year-old in Louisiana while playing with a rifle they found in a closet

[Windman]

Stupid is as stupid does. Can stupid people learn or are they destined to repeat history?

They re-elected obama so I would say the answer to that question is no.

[musicmd]

They re-elected obama so I would say the answer to that question is no.

Four more years try staying on topic Oh how it hurts

[johnpolitics]

Bad irresponsible parenting. G-U-N is not T-O-Y.

[Rumorhasit]

Here ya go. Bit clsoer to the mark. So, about 4X more.

In 2007, there were 122 unintentional firearm deaths in children, and an additional 3,060 nonfatal gun and shooting accidents, which resulted in an estimated 1,375 children needing to be hospitalized for their injuries.

These gun and shooting accidents, all tragedies, highlight the importance of learning about gun safety and discussing gun safety with your pediatrician.

Gun and Shooting Accidents

Some more recent gun and shooting accidents involving children include:
•a 2-year-old in Cooper County, Missouri, died after shooting himself in the head with a handgun that "he got a hold of" in his house.
•a 3-year-old in Loris, South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach, died after shooting himself in the head with a pistol that he found in the car.
•a 5-year-old in Belleville, Illinois, near St. Louis, was accidentally shot in the head with a shotgun by his 10-year-old brother.
•a 3-year-old in Maryland Heights, Missouri, near St. Louis, who shot himself once in the chest, died. He found the gun in his parents bedroom, one of whom is a police officer.
•a 2-year-old was shot in the head by his 5-year-old brother in Connersville, Indiana who was playing with a gun he found in a bedroom. The boy, a twin, died of the gun shot.
•a 3-year-old in St. Louis, Missouri who died after she shot herself in the head with a gun she found tucked between two mattresses.
•a 6-year-old who was shot and killed by his 11-year-old stepbrother, in what was initially thought to be an accident, but the boy is now facing possible murder charges. The two boys were left home alone at the time of the shooting in Martinsville, Indiana.
•a 10-year-old in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi died after he shot himself with his grandfather's gun that he found in his nightstand. He would have been going into the fifth grade next fall.
•a 15-year-old from Cherry Hill, Baltimore was shot in the head and killed by a 12-year-old friend who was playing with the gun during a sleepover.
•a 5-year-old from Bossier City, Louisiana found a loaded handgun a cabinet in his home, and accidentally shot and killed himself.
•a 2-year-old near Fresno, California found a loaded, semi-automatic handgun in his home, walked into a bedroom with the gun, and it fired, striking and killing his 6-year-old sister.
•a 3-year-old in South Carolina was shot in his upper boy by his uncle who was cleaning his gun when it accidentally fire. The toddler died in emergency surgery.
•a 2-year-old in Georgia was shot in the back by a 9 or 10-year-old who found a gun in a van they were all playing in while the toddler's family was preparing to move to a new apartment.
•a 2-year-old in Phoenix was shot in the face with a handgun by her 8-year-old brother, who thought he was playing with a toy gun he found on the floor of his grandfather's apartment.
•a 3-year-old in Summerville, South Carolina who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her head after finding a loaded, unsecured handgun on the window sill of her parent's bedroom
•a 5-year-old in Telferner, Texas who shot his 4-year-old brother in the abdomen with a rifle they were playing with in their home. His brother died from the gun shot wound.
•a 2-year-old in Missouri who died after he accidentally shot himself in the head after finding a loaded handgun on a shelf in the closet of his parent's bedroom
•an 11-year-old in Indianapolis who was accidentally shot by his brother
•three children in Houston who were hurt when a 6-year-old accidentally fired a gun he had brought to school
•an 8-year-old in Alabama who died from an accidental shotgun blast
•a 2-year-old in Vermont who died after he was accidentally shot with a rifle by a sibling
•a 10-year-old who lost use of his right eye after being shot by an older teen cousin while they were playing with a gun that they thought was unloaded
•a 3-year-old in North Carolina who shot and killed himself
•a 4-year-old who accidentally shot a 12-year-old in Louisiana while playing with a rifle they found in a closet
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/safet...-accidents.htm

Why the hell would anyone discuss firearms safety with your pediatrician? When did pediatricians become experts on firearms? I think I would pass on that advice!

[slapshot]

Why the hell would anyone discuss firearms safety with your pediatrician? When did pediatricians become experts on firearms? I think I would pass on that advice!

I sort of agree, but many pediatricians are involved with educating themselves (and patients) with all facets of children's health/well being issues.

One would hope that gun safety was all common sense....but clearly, for some, it's not:

Gun Safety:

"Again, to help prevent these types of gun and shooting accidents, learning about gun safety is important.

Unfortunately, many parents don't store their guns safely, even when they have young kids in the home. In fact, one study showed that 85% of parents who owned guns did not practice safe gun storage.

To protect children from gun and shooting accidents, the typical gun safety advice that you will get from your pediatrician includes that you:

keep your guns locked
keep your guns unloaded
keep your ammunition locked
keep your ammunition in a separate area from your gun
A safe or lock box are good places to store your unloaded guns and your ammunition. A trigger lock can also provide extra security when you store your unloaded guns in a safe or lock box.

As with other types of child safety, this type of layers of protection plan is the best way to protect children from accidentally finding a loaded gun, or finding a unloaded gun and ammunition and loading it themselves, and then shooting themselves, shooting a family member, or shooting a friend.

Don't count on your child simply knowing what to do if they find a gun. Much to their parent's surprise, one study found that most kids who find a gun will handle it, many will even pull the trigger, being unsure if the gun is real or a toy."

[cprenegade]

The guns are no more the problem than the cars are in the cases of kids locked inside of them on a hot summer day. The irresponsible parents are the problem. If we are going to dumb the world down to accomodate every irresponsible parent, we will all be living in the equivalent of playschool houses. Let's start charging, convicting, and jailing the irresponsibility of those parents, or better yet stopping them from becoming parents again, instead of punishing those who are responsible.

[songfourone]

The guns are no more the problem than the cars are in the cases of kids locked inside of them on a hot summer day. The irresponsible parents are the problem. If we are going to dumb the world down to accomodate every irresponsible parent, we will all be living in the equivalent of playschool houses. Let's start charging, convicting, and jailing the irresponsibility of those parents, or better yet stopping them from becoming parents again, instead of punishing those who are responsible.

So the difference between a 'responsible' gun owner and a 'irresponsible' gun owner is a death. Gotcha

[cprenegade]

So the difference between a 'responsible' gun owner and a 'irresponsible' gun owner is a death. Gotcha

It certainly can be. Just as the difference between a responsible parent who knows enough to not lock their kid in a car on a hot summer day and one who doesn't can also be death. In both cases the object was not the real cause of death, it was the lack of responsibility on the part of the object's owner that was the cause of death.

[Calamari]

So the difference between a 'responsible' gun owner and a 'irresponsible' gun owner is a death. Gotcha

Just like how mass shooters are "insane" only after they start piling up the bodies.

[songfourone]

Just like how mass shooters are "insane" only after they start piling up the bodies.

Exactly. The more I read about the people were legally permitted to carry, the more worrisome this seems to be.

[The Astute Reader(tm)]

There's no "unintentional deaths" by guns, below the age of 5, and above the age of 14. An anomoly? Very unlikely. It's pretty clear they simply classified all those as suicides.

No, it's pretty clear that this list contains the top ten causes, not all causes. Important hint: You can tell by the title:

"10 Leading Causes of Injury Deaths by Age Group Highlighting Unintentional Injury Deaths, United States – 2007"

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have to spell this out for an unbiased person of average intelligence: The lack of a particular cause in a specific age category means that the cause was not common enough to make it into the top ten.

I find it interesting that you discard the CDC data out of hand as "baloney" when it does not support your agenda, rather than trying to absord and understand the data presented.

[Wes]

Why the hell would anyone discuss firearms safety with your pediatrician? When did pediatricians become experts on firearms? I think I would pass on that advice!

This question you ask makes you look un-informed. Pediatricians cover a wide range of information concerning the safety of children....

[songfourone]

This question you ask makes you look un-informed. Pediatricians cover a wide range of information concerning the safety of children....

Pediatricians ask about the water temp coming out of the spigots, they ask about steps, accessibility to electrical outlets and to household cleaning materials. They are not plumbers, construction workers or electricians.

[jonsensback]

Pediatricians ask about the water temp coming out of the spigots, they ask about steps, accessibility to electrical outlets and to household cleaning materials. They are not plumbers, construction workers or electricians.

Really, in what world?

My wife managed a pediatrics office for 10 years and is Ped nurse and has never mentioned this. Not to mention I'm a father and recently a grandfather and have never heard those questions.

[ivanbalt]

Exactly. The more I read about the people were legally permitted to carry, the more worrisome this seems to be.

How about the people that illegally carry?

[jonsensback]

How about the people that illegally carry?

That's no bother because she doesn't go to "those neighborhoods" ,lol

[Mom49of4]

Just because a pediatrician asks questions parents are not required to answer all that is asked.

[Wes]

Really, in what world?

My wife managed a pediatrics office for 10 years and is Ped nurse and has never mentioned this. Not to mention I'm a father and recently a grandfather and have never heard those questions.

Well maybe you and yours have been affiliated with the wrong pediatricians......

[Wes]

Just because a pediatrician asks questions parents are not required to answer all that is asked.

What point are you making with this?