Wednesday 22 March 2006

Child cruelty

I was going to ask which country the following applies to:
A child is killed by a gun every three hours. According to the latest statistics, nearly 1,000 children under 19 are shot dead every year. Another 800 use guns to commit suicide, and more than 160 die in firearm accidents.
But frankly I find it so horrific I don't want to mess about. It's America of course and comes from a piece in The Guardian today. The piece is about a 66 year old man who shot a 19 year old for crossing his lawn. He shot him, with a shotgun, from his house and then walked over to the felled boy and shot him again from close range. That figure of 1,000 under 19s a year is a greater average than the number of US soliders who have died in Iraq in four years (approx 2,500). I'm not going to add anything else - I'm sure there are a range of views on this but gun controls in the States are being eroded so these numbers can only get worse. I'm very glad my children do not live in a country where 40% of the populace own a gun and over 30,000 people were killed by firearms in 2003.

1 careful considerations:

ScaryCheri said...

The gun problem here is sick. I'll never live in a house that has one, but who's to say my neighbor isn't giving them to the kids to play with?!? OUtta control....
I once say a young boy, about 9 or 10 run across the street in front of me with a large black handgun in his hand....he was followed by a boy about 14 or 15 years old who cought up to him, grabbed the gun out of his hand and scolded him for having it....then shoved it in his pants and walked on.

Thanks NRA, Thanks Bush, thanks National Gun Show and Convention....thanks to you all.