Accidents With Firearms That Hurt Or Kill Children
More children in this country die because of guns than because of cancer. About 12 percent of victims of gun violence brought into hospitals in the Baltimore area are kids. The pandemic didn’t help. Most people associate the pandemic with any number of issues, but may fail to associate it with a rise in shooting accidents. Throughout America, the number of injuries and deaths for children between five and 14 years of age almost doubled in 2020. Across the country, the rise in deaths continued through 2021.
Child Injuries and Deaths Related to Guns
The startling reality is that across the United States shooting accidents kill boys at six times the rate of girls. As weapons purchases surged in recent years, so too did accidents related to firearms, and the numbers of incidents involving children have been startling: roughly 1,300 youth under the age of 18 die every year as a result of a shooting. According to studies, about one-third of families with children do have a firearm in the home, which means that there are over 22 million kids living in homes with guns. Tragically, boys who are the victims of accidental shootings are most often shot by a friend or relative, and, sadly, that relative is most likely a brother. Tragically, about four in ten unintentional shootings among young teens aged 11-14 years old occur in the home of a buddy.
Don’t Fool Yourself
Parents who own firearms frequently tell themselves that their kids are not at risk of injury or death from those weapons, believing any number of myths to assuage themselves:
Myth | Fact |
We only have pellet guns, BB guns, or paintball guns, and they’re not dangerous. | While these weapons are less likely to cause fatalities, they do result in 22,000 injuries annually, most often to the eye. |
My kids play with toy weapons and we keep the real weapons out of reach; the kids can differentiate between real and toy weapons. | Kids under age 13 were killed using guns
that were mistaken for toys in 16 percent of accidental shooting cases; |
My child wouldn’t know how to shoot, or isn’t strong enough to pull a trigger. | Kids typically have the strength to pull a trigger by the age of 3 years, and figure out how to do it while playing with the weapon. |
My child doesn’t know where these
weapons are kept in our house. |
Three in four kids who live in houses where guns are kept know where those guns are kept, despite parent’s beliefs otherwise. |
We’ve taught our children to respect guns, and they know they’re not to touch them. | Studies indicate that most children
will , indeed, handle a gun if given the opportunity. |
After an Accident
Though you may not have guns in your own home, your kids may be at risk of a fun-related injury or fatality when they are in their friends’ homes. Notwithstanding the friendship between families, the devastation of such an incident may leave you seeking legal remedies to address medical costs, long-term earnings, funeral costs, pain and suffering, and more. The Baltimore personal injury attorneys at The Law Office of Hasson D. Barnes ache for you; moreover, they will fight for the compensation you deserve. Nothing will ever erase your suffering, but we can definitely help with financial remuneration to address the costs. Schedule a confidential consultation today.
Source:
baltimoresun.com/news/investigations/bs-hs-gun-violence-affects-baltimore-area-children-20221117-zkq7ritgvbf57mjzb3nvw53rr4-story.html