California Legislature and Handgun Control
The California Legislature is currently debating a bill that would require handgun owners to be licensed by the state. And amid the debate over Assembly Bill 273, you can be sure there will be claims that burdening law-abiding gun owners with more regulations is necessary to "protect our children" from gun violence.
But if you look at the statistics in Orange County, it's pretty clear that there's something else out there that poses a far greater danger to kids than guns do.
It's called water.
So far this year, 18 people have drowned in Orange County - 10 in swimming pools, eight in the ocean. Some of the deaths were the result of plain bad luck, while others, it must be said, were caused by the victim's own poor decisions: ignoring riptide warnings, jumping into a pool without knowing how to swim and so on.
But the really tragic part is that four of the people who drowned in Orange County this year were children 6 years old or younger, all of whom lost their lives in swimming pools.
Now let's take a look at the number of gun-related deaths in Orange County.
According to the Orange County Coroner's Office, so far this year there have been exactly zero accidental deaths involving firearms in the county. That's right, zero. Out of millions of people and hundreds of thousands of gun owners in the county, not one person of any age has been accidentally killed by a firearm.
And even when you look at gun-related homicides, it's still clear that in Orange County water is at least as deadly as guns - and even more deadly for young children.
According to the coroner's office, so far this year there have been 17 confirmed homicides in the county that involved firearms - one less than the number of drownings. And of those firearm deaths, how many were children under 6?
Again, the answer is none. In fact, only three gun-homicide victims in Orange County so far this year were 18 or under, with the youngest being 16 - and he was allegedly shot by an ex-con who was already violating a host of gun-control laws by having a firearm in his possession.
As for suicides involving young people and firearms, so far in Orange County this year there have been two - one a 14-year-old, one a 17-year-old.
All this sounds like an abstract from some of today's action movies, but sadly enough, all these events are true and have plagued our nation for the past eighteen months. Not only have juvenile crime rates gone up in the past few years, but a heightened awareness of these crimes exists because of how violent natured these crimes have become. "Homicides committed by juveniles with firearms have tripled in number since 1983" (Jenson and Howard 324).
Safety is the number one concern with any water sport. In May, the U.S. Coast Guard released its Recreational Boating Statistics, which revealed 701 boating fatalities nationwide in 2016 (Coast Guard). Alcohol
Violence related to guns is a prominent issue in America. Guns are a means to an end; meaning guns have played a strong role in suicides, murders, and injuries. In the past decade there has been an average of 400-500 thousand incidents of firearms per year (Gun Violence). The number of injured people from firearm incidents in the United States per year for the past decade is 400-600 thousand people (Gun Violence). These statistics are absolutely shocking to anyone. The amount of violence and crime that comes from guns is enormous. It is imperative that proper gun control is put into place by means of background checks and proper training. It can almost be certain that the number of incidents of accidental discharges from children and the number of victims affected by gun crimes in general can be highly reduced.
Guns kept in the home are more likely to cause unintentional or intentional deaths or harm than to be used for self-defense. Having a gun in the home gives easy access to children to hurt themselves or someone else like in the exemplifying episode. Although the ownership of guns have gone down today in comparison to the 70s, gun violence continue to be active causes of deaths particularly among blacks. Numerous major crimes committed with the use of firearms have led to modifications of current gun laws.
Today in the United States many people argue over the fact of guns being legal or illegal. There are people using guns for personal safety and there are others who use them for crimes, as well as for other situations. Firearm deaths in the United States have slowly been decreasing from year to year with all these bills getting passed to promote a safer country than ever before. Guns are the main weapon for youth suicide, school shootings, and for committing murder. In 2010 there were 2,711 infants, child, and teenage firearm deaths. As in school shootings and in committing murder, studies show shooters often had multiple, non-automatic guns, shootings were planned, most youth tell before shooting, shooters have a history of being bullied or threatened, shooters have mental issues, and shooters have done suicidal gestures before (Gun Control with School Shootings). Although there are people who use guns for murdering, there are also those who oppose guns being used without the proper requirements. 85% of all respondents to the survey supporting requiring states to report people to national background-checks systems who are prohibited from owning gu...
California does not have enough gun laws, they need more restrictions! Guns have been around our country for a long period of time. Serving its purpose in the battles United States of America has fought in. Thanks to the Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment it gave United States citizens to own and practice the right to bear arms. In other words James Madison gave people the right to protect themselves then and ourselves now from any militia or these days our self-defense. Unfortunately our right to bear arms has begun to be infringed upon not long after the Second Amendment. Throughout the years most restrictions and new laws to purchase and own a gun were reasonable, given the certain circumstances, such as passing a test showing as the
More than 20,000 children and youth under the age of 20 years old are injured or killed by guns in the U.S. The easy accesses kids have to getting their hands on guns are a major reason why firearms are the second leading cause of death among the youth. The majority of deaths by guns in the youth are homicides. About one-third of them are suicides. Seven percent are unintentional. People living in urban areas such as, older teens, males, African American youth, and Hispanic youth are more likely to be involved in gun homicides. People in rural areas like males and Caucasian youth are more likely to commit suicide. There were 2,711 infant, child, and teen firearm deaths. That’s seven deaths a day.
“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to
The Federal Government does not require citizens to have a permit to carry a weapon, but should. Simply reducing the amount of guns out in the world is not going to end all problems, but would act as a preventative measure. Moreover, California does not allow ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 cartridges or rounds to be made or sold, while the Federal Government does not have a law against this. In regards to purchasing a firearm, California law states that all sales must be made via a licensed dealer under the Dealer Record of Sale process. The Federal Government is not as strict in this regard as it does not require that a record is kept if the purchase is from an unlicensed private seller in the same state. I think it is extremely important for the government to be able to access records of gun ownership. The Dealer Record of Sale process in California requires those looking to purchase a firearm to present an identification card, for non-US Citizens this could be in the form of an Alien Registration Number (projects.scpr.org). Proof of California residency is also required. Federally, if a background check cannot be completed within three days the purchaser may still receive
Unsecured guns have turned thousands of toddlers into killers and much more into victims. “Children younger than three have gotten a hold of guns and shot someone at least 59 times in 2015”; a trend first reported by Christopher Ingraham add the Washington Post in October. A solution to this would be proper gun storage; adults owning a gun must be more aware of the fact of toddlers or children being at the risk of obtaining weapons and causing mischief. They should place their firearm in a safe place where a child cannot reach it or find the way to create themselves or anyone else an injury or further tragedy including unwanted accidents. For example “Caroline Starks was two years old. Her 5-year-old brother was playing nearby with his birthday present: a .22-caliber Crickett rifle. His mother stepped outside for a moment; confident the gun had no bullets, therefore, wasn’t loaded. She was wrong. Caroline was pronounced dead a few hours later at the Cumberland County Hospital in Kentucky”.The action of misusing guns can affect children mentally and physically; “youth can also be influenced to take or make the wrong decision. Some kids may develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can affect brain development. The psychological trauma of gun violence may lead some children to arm themselves "for protection," or desensitize them so that they feel less hesitation
People who do not research the owning of handguns and form their opinion off of what they see on the news are left in the dark. One of the most misunderstood concepts is that more guns cause more violence. This is false more guns do not mean more homicides. In 1973, the handgun stock was 36.9 million and the homicide rate was 9.4 per 100,000. In 1992, the handgun stock was 77.6 million but the homicide rate dropped 8.5 percent. In 1994, the U.S. bureau of justice static's made a survey that stated 100,000 lives are saved by handguns. According to criminologist Gary Kleck, guns are fired in only about 24 percent of cases in which they are used for self-defense.
In this day and age the media is always covering breaking stories about juveniles and violence. It seems that every other day there is a headline about shootings or stabbings. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration when analyzing juvenile violence and more specifically juveniles and gun violence. Gun violence is the intentional use of a weapon against a person, group or community that can possibly result in injury, death or psychological harm. There are many factors that need to be analyzed in order to come to a decision about the proper course of action to reduce gun violence amongst juveniles. The things that need to be taken into consideration are gun laws, different uses of a firearm, how youths attain firearms, causes of gun violence and most importantly, the options to combat juvenile gun violence.
There are an estimated 8,000 deaths per year in the United States from drowning. Near-drowning occurs anywhere from 2-20 times more frequently (for estimated 16,000-160,000 events per year)7. The definitions for drowning and near-drowning have for the longest time been very confusing to understand. Recent health officials have attempted to resolve some of this confusion by redefining drowning as “the process of experiencing respiratory insufficiency or difficulty following a submersion or immersion in a body of liquid.” Near-drowning has also been redefined as “survival from a drowning event which involved impaired consciousness or water inhalation for 24 hours or more”2. Both near drowning and near-drowning occur when someone experiences a submersion event. A submersion event is when someone, in this case a pediatric patient, experiences an unexpected submersion in water. When an unexpected submersion, regardless of water type (salt or fresh) occurs, the individual experiences breath hold, panic, and a struggle to resurface1. Humans, naturally, can only hold their breath for a short period of time. This prolonged breath hold results in hypoxia and eventually leads to involuntary gasping. As the individual attempts to gasp for air they sometimes aspirate7. This paper will attempt to look at the clinical presentation of a near-drowning patient who has suffered from a submersion event.
Statistics on the National Safe Kids Campaign Website reveals that “Americans possess nearly 200 million firearms, including 65 million handguns. Approximately one-third of families with children (representing more than 22 million children in 11 million homes) keep at least one gun in the home. Gun owners keep firearms in the home for hunting and recreation (60 percent) or for protection and crime prevention (40 percent)”. Although 40 percent seems to be on the minority, households with guns are at higher risk of homicide, and there are few beneficial effects of gun ownership; as a result, alternative methods for crime prevention and protection should be adopted.
You can greatly reduce the chances of you and your children becoming a drowning victim or being injured if you follow a few simple safety tips: