From: [REDACTED] at [hprnd.rose.hp.com] (Steve Kao) Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Subject: Re: A probable FAQ Date: 25 Oct 1993 21:35:42 GMT RKBA.004 - Children and firearms Version 1.1 (last changed on 90/04/25 at 21:44:23) DESCRIPTION ============ One of the most emotional issues that people confront is death. Death of children can be even more emotional, playing on our concern for the young and helpless. Shortly after the February 6, 1989 issue of TIME magazine, a fairly long lived debate began in talk.politics.guns on the issue of children killed by firearms. Letters to TIME magazine in the weeks that followed that issue claimed figures such as "over 3,400 children" are killed each year by firearms. One poster to talk.politics.guns claimed that the figure was "ten thousand children" killed each year. In actuality, the total number of children (ages up to and including 14) killed by firearms, deliberately or accidently, is typically 500 to 600 a year. SUMMARY ======= Total firearm deaths for children (<1 through 14) at 587 (1988) is one of the SMALLEST causes of deaths in children. Cars, falls, burns, drowning, food ingestion are all much larger cause of deaths (7,988). Deaths of all types, including firearms, rise dramatically starting at age 15, peaking at 17 through 22 (the really dangerous years). CONCLUSION ========== The use of the phrase "thousands of children killed" is an emotional propagandistic phrase designed to play on our worst fears. Be aware that TIME magazine has printed a letter from a "doctor" who claimed that 3,312 children are killed "by guns" each year. The only way to achieve that figure is to count as children all people from age 0 through and including 24! (Ages 0 through 24 is a common statistical grouping in many sources). Watch out for inclusion of ages 16, 17, and 18 into the "children" group. IMHO, children can not drive, drink beer, or join the military, all things possible in those three years. MURDERS AND NON-NEGLIGENT HOMICIDES (1988) AGE By firearms Other (cutting, stabbing, blunt objects, poison...) < 1 10 230 1 to 4 44 289 5 to 9 56 96 10 to 14 136 91 -------- --- --- 246 706 Total deaths (accidental and non-murder) ages up to and including 24 were 54,207 (1985). In 1985, total firearm accidental and non-murder deaths was 755 for the same age group. AGE Accidental deaths by firearms <1 2 1 5 2 12 3 10 4 14 5 9 6 9 7 10 8 12 9 18 10 27 11 23 12 37 13 38 14 52 --- 278 15 57 16 52 17 42 --- --- 429 FUTURE ====== As I do the research, I will break these statistics down into 1 year increments, using 1989 statistics, from ages 0 through 24. Sources: NSC88, TIME06FEB89, UCR89. -end- --------------------- If you don't see the moral answer to the problem, use -- Phil Ronzone [p k r] at [sgi.COM] {decwrl,sun}!sgi!pkr --------------------- the universal can opener: "Whose property/life is it?" --