Protect Children, Not Guns

In today's installment of stating the obvious, having a gun in your home makes your family less safe not more

The latest installment of Protect Children, Not Guns by the Children’s Defense Fund makes clear that America's obsession with guns continues to result in the senseless deaths of children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that a total of 3,042 children and teens died by gunfire in 2007— almost as many as the total number of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq and four times the number of American combat fatalities in Afghanistan to date and another 17,523 children were wounded

Protect Children, Not Guns shows how gun violence exacts a high toll on society:

* The number of children and teens in America killed by guns in 2007 would fill more than 122 public school classrooms of 25 students each.
* More preschoolers (85) were killed by firearms than law enforcement officers (57) killed in the line of duty.
* In 2007, firearms claimed the lives of 1,499 Black children and teens and 1,460 White children and teens. Gun deaths of Black children and teens surpassed White children and teens for the first time the first year since this data was compiled in 1979 that.
* The vast majority (95 percent) of firearm deaths of young people occurred among children and teens 10 to 19 years old. In fact, more 10 to 19 year olds die from gunshot wounds than from any other cause except motor vehicle accidents.
* States with higher rates of gun ownership and weak gun control laws have the highest rates of firearm deaths when looking at victims of all ages.

CDF’s report shows that every three hours a child or teen is killed by a gun. That’s eight children or teen each day and 58 every week.