North Carolina 3-year-old who accidentally shot herself on Christmas Day has died

[conuly]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/29/us/north-carolina-christmas-shooting-toddler-dies/index.html

In 2020 in the US, more than 5,100 children younger than 18 were killed or injured in gun incidents, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

People say they get guns to protect themselves and their families, and therefore they MUST have a gun and CAN'T secure it because they need it ready to access, but they really are only putting themselves and their families at risk.

If you want to protect yourself, don't get a gun. If you really do have a reason for it, keep it locked up, with the ammunition locked up separately.

If you're sure that you need a gun to protect yourself from violence - well, firstly, you probably don't, not in the US, but if you did the best way to protect yourself from gun violence is to advocate for better gun control.

This death, like all those deaths, is framed as a tragedy, but really? It's a statistic. Tragedies are rare, isolated incidents, not wholly predictable and common events.

Protect your family by not getting a gun.

Comments

[conuly]

Buying a gun because you enjoy a hobby sport that involves a gun is a world more rational than buying a gun because you imagine that you're at risk.

(And since most burglaries happen when people aren't at home, for the obvious reason, that's even more cause to lock up your weapons. I'm guessing you have the good sense to see that and don't need it spelled out.)

[sabotabby]

I haven't done it a lot! But the people who taught me how to shoot were these nice Comp. Sci. kids at the university gun club who were hardcore about gun safety. (I wanted to learn how to shoot for research purposes.) They were very sensible and kept their weapons locked in a safe at the range itself. That's who I think about when I think of responsible gun enthusiasts.