This Could Have, Should Have, Been Prevented

[Nice n Easy Rider]

3-year-old dies after shooting self

 

Posted: Today at 12:39 p.m.

 

Jacksonville, N.C. — A 3-year-old boy died Monday morning after shooting himself, the Onslow County Sheriff's Office said.

 

The boy, who was not identified, apparently found a gun at his home on Rutherford Way in Jacksonville, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

 

The sheriff's office said that the child's father is a civilian police officer at Camp Lejeune.

 

Authorities have not said whether charges would be filed.

 

What a senseless tragedy. It's hard to imagine why that gun wasn't locked or locked up but whatever the explanation, that child's parents will probably suffer and grieve the rest of their lives.

[MachineJoe]

it IS a senseless tragedy.

I've never lost a child and hope I never experience it.

Making a mistake like that and then living with it the rest of my life would be to say the least, overwhelming.

 

We just hear through the news the number of times a child gets a hold of a firearm in the house and a death results.

How many times do you think it happens that a child picks up a live weapon and a round is triggered with no harm to anyone or intervention happens before disaster strikes?

[beemerman2k]

This is a senseless tragedy, but what can we do? As long as people live on the planet, such errors in judgement and terrible mistakes will occur. We must do everything possible to assist each other to live responsibly, but when tragedy strikes, all we can do is to lend support to others and welcome that same support when our own day of calamity comes.

[steve.foote]

This is a senseless tragedy, but what can we do? As long as people live on the planet, such errors in judgement and terrible mistakes will occur. We must do everything possible to assist each other to live responsibly, but when tragedy strikes, all we can do is to lend support to others and welcome that same support when our own day of calamity comes.

 

Very well stated.

[russell_bynum]

This is a senseless tragedy, but what can we do? As long as people live on the planet, such errors in judgement and terrible mistakes will occur. We must do everything possible to assist each other to live responsibly, but when tragedy strikes, all we can do is to lend support to others and welcome that same support when our own day of calamity comes.

 

Yup.

 

It was stupid and senseless, but that's true for most accidents.

[DavidEBSmith]

I don't accept the "oh well, accidents happen, what can we do" notion, not in this case. A 3 year old should not be able to access a loaded, unlocked gun, period. And a police officer, as someone who is around guns on a daily basis, should know better.

 

There seems to be two kinds of people in the world. One kind thinks the world is sh*t, people are stupid, and thinks there's nothing that can be done about it, so why try. The other kind thinks the world is sh*t, people are stupid, and hopes that maybe we can learn to be smarter and so we should try. There's a pretty obvious political differentiation between those two kinds of people, but I won't go there.

 

But I will go here: there are gun owners who become so obsessed with external risks that they overweight the need to respond to "threats" and underestimate and underweight the risk of "accidents" like this. They focus on the perceived need to have a gun ready and handy at all times to repel an attack and forget that they're also increasing the danger of a self-inflicted injury from one of those handy and ready guns. By trying to make themselves more safe, they've made themselves less safe.

[russell_bynum]

I don't accept the "oh well, accidents happen, what can we do" notion, not in this case. A 3 year old should not be able to access a loaded, unlocked gun, period. And a police officer, as someone who is around guns on a daily basis, should know better.

 

Yes...and that's the case with most accidents.

 

Edit: From what I've seen, we don't have the details of what happened, so we really can't condemn the officer just yet.

 

 

There seems to be two kinds of people in the world. One kind thinks the world is sh*t, people are stupid, and thinks there's nothing that can be done about it, so why try. The other kind thinks the world is sh*t, people are stupid, and hopes that maybe we can learn to be smarter and so we should try. There's a pretty obvious political differentiation between those two kinds of people, but I won't go there.

 

Actually, I think the difference is what each group thinks should be done about the problem. Nanny-state laws vs. personal responsibility.

 

 

They focus on the perceived need to have a gun ready and handy at all times to repel an attack and forget that they're also increasing the danger of a self-inflicted injury from one of those handy and ready guns.

 

That statement does not describe ANY of the gun owners (including several cops) that I know.

[baggerchris]

Isn't it against the law to have a loaded unsupervised gun around Children pretty much everywhere?

 

That being said, who wants to prosecute anyone who has just lost everything in the world they care about?

 

How about the parent that runs over their child with their car?

 

How do you think the gun owner parent is going to get through this with his/her spouse?

 

How about the sibling who kills his/her brother or sister?

 

I don't know. It's terrible for all concerned.

 

More laws? So what. If that happens your life is pretty much over anyway. (at least mine would be)

 

The answer? Education; education and education, and even then, there would still be accidents. Stupid people everywhere.

 

More laws? If you were impacted by this sort of accident, you would say YES! For the rest of us who use firearms according to logic and laws, maybe not.

[SeanC]

There seems to be two kinds of people in the world. One kind thinks the world is sh*t, people are stupid, and thinks there's nothing that can be done about it, so why try. The other kind thinks the world is sh*t, people are stupid, and hopes that maybe we can learn to be smarter and so we should try.

 

I'm the kind of person who feels absolutely heartbroken at stories like this. I can't imagine what his parents are going through right now, and no amount of pontification will bring that little boy back.

[beemerman2k]

I don't see people as being stupid at all -- at least no more stupid than I am. One day, I might have a stupid motorcycle accident. Does that mean I shouldn't be allowed to ride them? Does that mean I deserved to crash and die since I am so stupid? Our founders had a lot of respect for the intelligence of the American people when they penned the Second Amendment. I share in that respect, knowing full well that accidents like this one are bound to happen. Hell, even if we tossed that Amendment, incidents like this will occur.

 

This officer might have fit your description textbook tight. Or maybe not. Doesn't really matter as far as I am concerned. Accidents happen. When they do, I am all for us learning from it, but I am not for the rest of us looking down our pius noses at families such as this one as if they are somehow deficient when compared to ourselves. For this guy, a gun revealed his flaws. For me? Might be my motorcycle. For you? Who knows? Maybe nothing. But if you do mess up one day, I won't be among those in line to cast stones, that's for sure. "There but for the Grace of God go I"

[Tony_K]

 

I'm the kind of person who feels absolutely heartbroken at stories like this. I can't imagine what his parents are going through right now, and no amount of pontification will bring that little boy back.

 

Going off what Sean has said I must relay this story of tragedy.

 

Less that 10 days ago my parents in law attended a funeral for a 10 day old baby. The child had passed while in the arms of its father who had fallen asleep. He awoke to find this horror. Since he had fallen asleep he /they could not dertermine what the cause had been.

 

Well needless to say this resulted in the wife blaming him. He blaming himself. At the funeral both of the childs parents were on opposite sides of the room. The marriage destroyed. Trust destroyed. Lives destroyed. At the time it was not dertermined if it has been accidental suffocation via the father or SIDS. I don't know how a autopsy could differentiate the two.

 

Truly tragic.

[4wheeldog]

One day at the coffee shop, a woman I know slightly started up a converstation about handguns. She told me she has a 9mm pistol in her drawer. She also has a couple of young children. One of them is a 3 year old boy. The gun was safe, according to her, because the magazine and slide were removed. Are they nearby? was my question.....Yes. But she could not reassemble it, so it was safe as far as she was concerned.

I told her that when I was a 3 year old boy, I had reassembled my mother's revolver, and loaded it. I unloaded it and disassembled it without her ever knowing. I tried to get her to understand that mechanical apptitude has less to do with age than inborn ability. She did not get it, no matter how I tried to get the point across. I still worry about those kids.

[rob1100r]

 

But I will go here: there are gun owners who become so obsessed with external risks that they overweight the need to respond to "threats" and underestimate and underweight the risk of "accidents" like this. They focus on the perceived need to have a gun ready and handy at all times to repel an attack and forget that they're also increasing the danger of a self-inflicted injury from one of those handy and ready guns. By trying to make themselves more safe, they've made themselves less safe.

 

One needs to know their OWN 'limits' on what is 'safe' for themselves (including those around them).

And yes, this is an incident that could have been and should have been prevented.

[Polo]

I have started four times to say something here, and have backed down as many.

 

There isn't much one can say.

 

It is a sad event, one that no one imagines to be in. If we haven't gone thru something like this, we can't begin to imagine what it would feel like to be there.

 

I've witnessed similar events growing up helping my father at the funeral home. I've been close to the pain when a friend lost a son; a child that I knew since birth.

 

The marriage is very likely over. This will fill their hearts with guilt and resentment beyond of what normal love can withstand.

 

No amount of second guessing is needed nor justified.

 

It is just sad, for everybody.

[russell_bynum]

One day at the coffee shop, a woman I know slightly started up a converstation about handguns. She told me she has a 9mm pistol in her drawer. She also has a couple of young children. One of them is a 3 year old boy. The gun was safe, according to her, because the magazine and slide were removed. Are they nearby? was my question.....Yes. But she could not reassemble it, so it was safe as far as she was concerned.

I told her that when I was a 3 year old boy, I had reassembled my mother's revolver, and loaded it. I unloaded it and disassembled it without her ever knowing. I tried to get her to understand that mechanical apptitude has less to do with age than inborn ability. She did not get it, no matter how I tried to get the point across. I still worry about those kids.

 

Yup.

 

The sad thing is there's no need for that. There are several models of compact safes that allow very quick access (via fingerprint, or simple pushbutton combination that you can easily use even in the dark) which would allow you to keep a handgun at condition one without much worry about little ones gaining access. It would be easier and quicker to open one of those safes than to have to fiddle with the slide, load the magazine, rack the slide, etc.

 

Of course, these small safes are more easily defeated by older kids who know what's in there and want access, but that's a different problem with a different solution.

[Matts_12GS]

Damn shame, plain and simple.

 

I was at a friend's house recently, we were doing some work on his GPS at the dining room table, wives watching a movie, we were all having a glass of wine and some pizza. My 7 year old was sitting on the couch talking, etc.

 

I walked over during one part of the movie to watch it more closely and set my hand on the back of the recliner my wife was sitting in. Between the sides and the cushion of the back rest was something hard, I reached, thinking it might be a lost remote or something but it was the butt of a gun. About ears high to the average adult that might sit in this chair.

 

I quietly asked my host WTF was up with that, and why in the hell he hadn't bothered to tell us since we had the kid with us.

He told me the rationale for the guns (home invasion robbery next door) but couldn't give me an answer about not telling us, trying to make it into a "security by obscurity" thing...

 

I'm far from squeamish about guns, but dammit I needed to know this in order to protect against just this kind of thing.

 

As of this point, we had a bit of a "agreement to disagree" and we have not spoken since. It pisses me off that this is a friend of nearly 15 years who would be so thoughtless.

 

/rant

[tallman]

Matt,

I may have been tempted to liberate the weapon.

Someday he might ask, but there's a chance he'd go slightly nuts trying to figure out what happened, where did he put it down.

 

I would say that the heads up was required for all guests, not just because there were minors afoot.

 

Not good.

[beemerman2k]

OK David, I stand corrected. Maybe some of these people really are stupid

[Firefight911]

Damn shame, plain and simple.

 

I was at a friend's house recently, we were doing some work on his GPS at the dining room table, wives watching a movie, we were all having a glass of wine and some pizza. My 7 year old was sitting on the couch talking, etc.

 

I walked over during one part of the movie to watch it more closely and set my hand on the back of the recliner my wife was sitting in. Between the sides and the cushion of the back rest was something hard, I reached, thinking it might be a lost remote or something but it was the butt of a gun. About ears high to the average adult that might sit in this chair.

 

I quietly asked my host WTF was up with that, and why in the hell he hadn't bothered to tell us since we had the kid with us.

He told me the rationale for the guns (home invasion robbery next door) but couldn't give me an answer about not telling us, trying to make it into a "security by obscurity" thing...

 

I'm far from squeamish about guns, but dammit I needed to know this in order to protect against just this kind of thing.

 

As of this point, we had a bit of a "agreement to disagree" and we have not spoken since. It pisses me off that this is a friend of nearly 15 years who would be so thoughtless.

 

/rant

 

I'd be the exact same as you in this situation. GRRRRRRRR!!!!

 

Our household employs just what Russell indicated, a quick and easy access safe that is locked at all times!!!

 

Every child that comes to our house has an admonition to stay out of the room they are in, irrespective of the fact that they are locked, and the guardian of said parent is told EXACTLY why! Jamie and I make no apologies for it and the slightest infraction against our house rules related to this matter relegates the entire presence of all children to the room where the adults are.

[Dave McReynolds]

If a child shoots himself or someone else because a gun was improperly secured, the person responsible for securing the gun should be held responsible. The fact that it's a gun and involves our 2nd amendment rights makes it an emotional issue, but to me it's no different than if a child drowns in a pool that wasn't properly fenced.

 

For years I kept my revolver underneath my mattress (we had no kids in the house during those years). I never needed it, and frankly forgot it was there. One day we bought a new mattress, and, you guessed it, when the guys were hauling away the old mattress, they uncovered my good ol' 357, loaded and ready to fire. It was a good lesson for me, fortunately harmless, and now my revolver is kept in a more secure place, particularly since we have grandchildren roaming around these days.

 

A local LEO's child was accidently shot and killed with his service revolver a few years ago, so it's not exactly an isolated incident. One of the arguments given for not arming the population is that LEO's have better training in the use of firearms than we do. No doubt there are proportionately more accidents among the civilian population than among the LEO population, but the fact that there are accidents among even the well-trained population should give us pause to think. I don't think any human being is capable of using any tool or implement over an extended period of time, be it a motorcycle, gun, or teaspoon, without making mistakes. Mostly these mistakes are not fatal; sometimes, regretably, they are.

 

So we have to plan our use of firearms under the assumption that we will make a mistake sometime, which is why we don't point unloaded firearms at each other, among other things. The question is, how far do you carry that thought? For example, we used to have a nuclear power plant here that had multiple redundant failsafes. These things were constantly tripping and causing the plant to shut down, usually because of a problem with the failsafe and not because of a problem with the nuclear reactor. The plant was inefficient because of its downtime and was eventually decommissioned. It may have been a reasonably safe plant, but could not meet a standard that said there would never be an accident under any circumstances.

 

By the same token, we could cement our weapons into the foundations of our houses, and they would be pretty safe. As Russell points out, there are alternatives available that are reasonably safe but still leave the weapon reasonably accessable, and I think people should be held accountable if they don't use them.

[Boone60]

At the firing range for where I work is an old poster that states to the effect:

 

It is not an accident, if there was a disregard for safety.

 

This point of view is preached from storing weapons, to being responsible for any damage done by a bullet fired from your weapon.

[Huzband]

 

Every child that comes to our house has an admonition to stay out of the room they are in.....

 

You didn't tell me about them when I was there.

[Selden]

I inherited a 1918 Luger with all matching serial numbers when my father died. When my daughter turned 12, I decided I didn't want a gun in the same house as a teenager, went to a gun show (weird experience) and sold it.

 

I still love the beautiful, late 19th century engineering of that weapon -- you could strip it without tools, other than a coin to remove the screws that held the grips in place.

[Hermes]

I don't see people as being stupid at all -- at least no more stupid than I am. One day, I might have a stupid motorcycle accident. Does that mean I shouldn't be allowed to ride them? Does that mean I deserved to crash and die since I am so stupid? Our founders had a lot of respect for the intelligence of the American people when they penned the Second Amendment. I share in that respect, knowing full well that accidents like this one are bound to happen. Hell, even if we tossed that Amendment, incidents like this will occur.

 

This officer might have fit your description textbook tight. Or maybe not. Doesn't really matter as far as I am concerned. Accidents happen. When they do, I am all for us learning from it, but I am not for the rest of us looking down our pius noses at families such as this one as if they are somehow deficient when compared to ourselves. For this guy, a gun revealed his flaws. For me? Might be my motorcycle. For you? Who knows? Maybe nothing. But if you do mess up one day, I won't be among those in line to cast stones, that's for sure. "There but for the Grace of God go I"

 

You got me thinking about some of my flaws that have caused, fortunately, relatively minor accidents. Accidents even involving my kids.

 

Nicely put, Beemerman! I try to keep it mind the next time I am about to go on about someone's stupidity.

[pbharvey]

Accidentally leaving an unsecured firearm within reach of a child is really no different from accidentally leaving the pool gate open.

[Fugu]

By trying to make themselves more safe, they've made themselves less safe.

 

Stale, unsupported argument. Same one you always make and never support except with anecdotes.

 

This sort of accident is preventable, like all accidents. It is tragic and horrible. It's also EXCEEDINGLY RARE. Much more rare than children being killed by their own parents without firearms. Rarer than poisonings. Yes, I've brought this up before. License parents, not guns.

 

Why is this thread allowed to fester, when the one about soldiers who were forced to disarm on base and were then shot by a religious zealot madman was shut down as soon as it was politicized?

 

Close this thread out of respect for the dead child and its family rather than allowing some to use the child's casket as a soap box.

[Mike]

While this is a great personal tragedy, there is a lesson to be learned here. It's actually one that's evident to the vast majority of gun owners . . . to all whom I've known.

 

While I understand that some oppose gun ownership in any form, it seems like they're fighting the wrong battle in decrying this incident--gun ownership rights are constitutionally protected and appear to be expanding. In light of this--and regardless of how you feel about the underlying issue--it seems that discussing this sort of thing serves as a valuable reminder that those of us who are "gun nuts" need to remain aware of the need to secure our guns in an appropriate manner.

[Whip]

While this is a great personal tragedy, there is a lesson to be learned here. It's actually one that's evident to the vast majority of gun owners . . . to all whom I've known.

 

While I understand that some oppose gun ownership in any form, it seems like they're fighting the wrong battle in decrying this incident--gun ownership rights are constitutionally protected and appear to be expanding. In light of this--and regardless of how you feel about the underlying issue--it seems that discussing this sort of thing serves as a valuable reminder that those of us who are "gun nuts" need to remain aware of the need to secure our guns in an appropriate manner.

 

....and I needed to be reminded. My 4 year old nephew is gonna be stayin with us over the Holidays. I have to lock everything up before he gets here.

 

Thanks

 

L and L

[Fugu]

-it seems that discussing this sort of thing serves as a valuable reminder that those of us who are "gun nuts" need to remain aware of the need to secure our guns in an appropriate manner.

 

I don't disagree but I find it inconsistent that this thread stays open while the one about Ft Hood was closed because people pointed out that it ludicrous for soldiers to become unarmed prey while sleeping on base, that's all.

 

 

 

 

 

[beemerman2k]

Fugu: I think I had something to do with that thread closing. Tempers got a little hot, then things calmed down a bit, then I tossed in some gasoline on the flames (unintentionally so, I might add). Because of that, EffBee decided it best to close that thread to let tempers cool and to put some distance between our own controversial views and what someone who suffered loss in that tragedy might read on this site.

 

I am very sorry for being a part of the problem on that thread and I applaud EffBee for using his excellent judgement in that situation.

[Dave McReynolds]

Fugu: I think I had something to do with that thread closing. Tempers got a little hot, then things calmed down a bit, then I tossed in some gasoline on the flames (unintentionally so, I might add). Because of that, EffBee decided it best to close that thread to let tempers cool and to put some distance between our own controversial views and what someone who suffered loss in that tragedy might read on this site.

 

I am very sorry for being a part of the problem on that thread and I applaud EffBee for using his excellent judgement in that situation.

 

Actually James, I think EffBee closed the thread as much because of the "debate" smiller and I were having over whether we were at war with Muslims that struck some people as too cavalier given the tragedy that had just happened as anything you wrote. I think smiller and I were having a reasonable discussion, and I still don't see anything wrong with it, but if our discussion was causing unintended discomfort to others, it was just as well to close it.

[EffBee]

Fugu: I think I had something to do with that thread closing. Tempers got a little hot, then things calmed down a bit, then I tossed in some gasoline on the flames (unintentionally so, I might add). Because of that, EffBee decided it best to close that thread to let tempers cool and to put some distance between our own controversial views and what someone who suffered loss in that tragedy might read on this site.

 

I am very sorry for being a part of the problem on that thread and I applaud EffBee for using his excellent judgement in that situation.

 

Actually James, I think EffBee closed the thread as much because of the "debate" smiller and I were having over whether we were at war with Muslims that struck some people as too cavalier given the tragedy that had just happened as anything you wrote. I think smiller and I were having a reasonable discussion, and I still don't see anything wrong with it, but if our discussion was causing unintended discomfort to others, it was just as well to close it.

 

And that would be pretty accurate. There was nothing anyone did wrong, and it was a judgment call on my part (the omnipotence can get to you at times ), but I felt that Limecreek had made a good point. Thirteen people had died and we were off on a tangent that seemed to have walked right over their bodies. I did make it clear that if anyone wanted to restart a thread and try and keep a touch of reverence about it, it would be fine. But sometimes people get gun shy when we take any board action whatsoever. And you shouldn't unless its clear we think a major rule/guideline has been violated. Normally, we're not here to slam doors, just do a little herding at times, and sometimes just to let things go and see where they end up. Most everyone here is pretty good at self-moderating.

[DavidEBSmith]

Close this thread out of respect for the dead child and its family rather than allowing some to use the child's casket as a soap box.

 

Y'know, there was a lot of criticism that I was criticizing the family in their time of sorrow. Somehow, I think it's unlikely that they're reading this DB or that someone will tell them "hey, somebody's saying terrible things about you on some obscure motorcycle board". But even if that happens, a careful reading of my post will show that I was making a general observation about some gun owners, not a specific observation about any particular gun owner.

 

As far as using a child's casket as a soap box: there is something to be learned from this tragedy. It reminded at least one gun owner in this thread to put away the guns before the 4 year old comes over. It may have been exceedingly small odds that anything bad would have happened, but those odds are even smaller now.

 

If we learn nothing from this tragedy, if this tragedy is meaningless to us, that child's death is meaningless, which would be a tragedy for all of us. If it makes somebody stop and think and prevent a similar tragedy from happening to one other child, then some good has come from evil.

 

If you can't see that there is something for people to learn from this, if you are so locked into your belief system that you automatically reject anything that conflicts with it, then it is a tragedy for you.

[Nice n Easy Rider]

As far as using a child's casket as a soap box: there is something to be learned from this tragedy. It reminded at least one gun owner in this thread to put away the guns before the 4 year old comes over. It may have been exceedingly small odds that anything bad would have happened, but those odds are even smaller now.

 

If we learn nothing from this tragedy, if this tragedy is meaningless to us, that child's death is meaningless, which would be a tragedy for all of us. If it makes somebody stop and think and prevent a similar tragedy from happening to one other child, then some good has come from evil.

As the OP, this was my only intent. I myself don't own guns but many of my relatives and friends do. I believe that they take care to lock them up when not in use but I don't know for sure. This post was meant to simply point out that even a well-trained person such as a police officer can slip and that such lapses in vigilance can have tragic consequences. I know from many posts on this board that many members have guns in their homes and it was simply meant to remind members to check the status of their guns and it seems to have worked for at least one member. There was no other intent and I apologize if some members thought that there was.

[Mike]

George--

 

I don't see any problem with posting something like this. If it makes us a little more conscientious in some way, it's worth it.

[hellmutt]

A few towns from where I live we had a very similar incident recently. The child was 2-3 years old. The parents were charged; it has not gone to court yet.

Many years ago when my first was born I got rid of my S&W 38 because I remembered that when I was a kid there was no area of the house I could not get into (locked or not).

[steve.foote]

There's a pretty obvious political differentiation between those two kinds of people, but I won't go there.

 

Yet, nonetheless, you did. David, this is what stirs the ire of people. It's one thing to jump on a soapbox to try to learn something from a tragedy. It's another, entirely, to use such a sad occaision to deliver a political barb.

[DavidEBSmith]

Well, here's a prime example:

 

We don’t believe that human nature is perfectible; we’re suspicious of government efforts to fix problems because often what it’s trying to fix is human nature, and that is impossible.

 

If you have an attitude like that, you will see no point in trying to learn anything from this tragedy, because it's just human nature and it can't be fixed.

 

On the other hand, if your attitude is

 

[Y]ou can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.

 

then you hope that some learning and thereby some good can came out of tragedy.

 

 

[tallman]

Yes, I learned something.

If we are concerned about household safety for very young children, I ask you this what about your cords?

 

“Cords

 

When improperly placed, cords can cause strangulation. In 2004, about 500 children suffocated in the home, and nearly 90 percent were under four years old, reports Safe Kids USA. While many parents are aware of window cords and tie them back, there are many other cords that have the potential for strangulation. A standing floor lamp with a long cord, a wallmounted phone on which the cord is not tacked to the wall, and computer cords that are hanging free are all hazardous.

 

All window treatment cords should be tied up high enough so that a child can’t reach them.

 

Another potential danger, reports Safe Kids USA: toys with strings, straps or cords longer than seven inches.”

 

Read more: 1. http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/toplists/top_10_most_hazardous_household_items/top_10_most_hazardous_household_items.html#ixzz0XUDvyhGs

 

 

2. Now I haven’t had time to search completely, but it seems about 70 pre-school aged children die from gunshots each year.

3. That is a tragedy, and should be preventable.

4. Yet it is 1/7th the total from cords.

5. There are over 3,000 abortions performed each day in this country.

6. Choosing one form of death over another to espouse a political position is a lose-lose IMO.

7. Best wishes.

 

 

 

[Lawman]

Yes, I learned something.

If we are concerned about household safety for very young children, I ask you this what about your cords?

 

“Cords

 

When improperly placed, cords can cause strangulation. In 2004, about 500 children suffocated in the home, and nearly 90 percent were under four years old, reports Safe Kids USA. While many parents are aware of window cords and tie them back, there are many other cords that have the potential for strangulation. A standing floor lamp with a long cord, a wallmounted phone on which the cord is not tacked to the wall, and computer cords that are hanging free are all hazardous.

 

All window treatment cords should be tied up high enough so that a child can’t reach them.

 

Another potential danger, reports Safe Kids USA: toys with strings, straps or cords longer than seven inches.”

 

Read more: 1. http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/toplists/top_10_most_hazardous_household_items/top_10_most_hazardous_household_items.html#ixzz0XUDvyhGs

 

 

2. Now I haven’t had time to search completely, but it seems about 70 pre-school aged children die from gunshots each year.

3. That is a tragedy, and should be preventable.

4. Yet it is 1/7th the total from cords.

5. There are over 3,000 abortions performed each day in this country.

6. Choosing one form of death over another to espouse a political position is a lose-lose IMO.

7. Best wishes.

 

 

 

Interesting...I wonder why I've never seen the parents of a child killed in one of these tragedies criticized??

 

"There seems to be two kinds of people in the world. One kind thinks the world is sh*t, people are stupid, and thinks there's nothing that can be done about it, so why try."