At least 157 people were killed and 270 were injured last year in unintentional shootings by children, according to Everytown, an advocacy group for firearm safety.
At least 157 people were killed and 270 were injured last year in unintentional shootings by children, according to Everytown, an advocacy group for firearm safety.
That’s a normal tactic but in this case I went to the data source, Everytown, and reviewed it myself. The highest age included in their data set was 17 and there was a depressing number of children under 8 in there.
The other thing is that this data was specifically about unintentional shootings, meaning that this wasn’t gang violence.
It’s basically what’s on the tin. Negligent and Accidental Discharges. Something that Safe Storage can help to address, especially with the younger kids.
Incidents like this.
And this.
The highest number was 17 because at 18 you’re an adult.
That hasn’t stopped other studies from defining “kids” as people all the way up to age 21.
It’s a common tactic used to create scary headlines and twist the discourse.
While some of these are true, a large portion of these are gang related. They’re carrying without holsters in their pockets. It’s happens a lot and usually isn’t reported unless someone is injured. I totally agree firearms should be stored in safes but the data here is more about negligent gang members usually.