How dare you, sir (???), suggest that the VT shooting could have turned out differently had the stduents been armed. You were not there. You do not know the circumstances. You do not know the layout of the building. You do not know how much or little training any of the students might have had. You do not know if any of them would have had the control to actually kill another human being, regardless of how ruthless he was behaving. You do not know if, in the process of stopping Cho, John shot Mary, too, killing her, thus compounding an already horrific situation. Heard of friendly fire? It happens and it is difficult to live with. You also do not know that one of them had not had a bad night the night before and became the shooter himself, all trianed and ready kill per your desire to protect.
About the Eddie program... great promo stunt. Kids learn about the dangers of drinking, smoking and srewing around, but they still do all those things.
http://www.kidsandguns.org/study/fact_file.asp
As they quote other sources, I will quote them:
Every nine hours a child or teen was killed in a firearm-related accident or suicide in 2002.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, "Deaths: Final Data for 2002." NVSR Volume 53, Number 5. 116 pp. (PHS) 2005-1120 .
Annual Totals (2002, 0-19 year-olds): Accidents=167, Suicides=828. (2002 is the most recent data available.)
On average, 4 children died every day in non-homicide firearm incidents from 1999-2002.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, 1999-2002.
From 1997-2002, more than 1,324 children were killed in firearm accidents.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, 1997-2002.
In 2004, there were 13,846 kids injured by a firearm -- and an additional 15,214 kids were injured from BB or pellet guns.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, "National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program," 2002.
On average during each of the last 10 years (1993-2002), 1,213 kids committed suicide with a firearm each year; more than 135 each year were kids under 15-years-old.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, 1993-1998, 1999-2002.
The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children aged less than 15 years was nearly 12 times higher than among children in 25 other industrialized countries combined.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Rates of Homicide, Suicide, and Firearm-Related Death Among Children -- 26 Industrialized Countries," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 46(05): 101-105, February 07, 1997.
1.69 million kids 18 and under in the United States are living with loaded and unlocked household firearms.
Okoro et al., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Prevalence of Household Firearms and Firearm-Storage Practices in the 50 States and the District of Columbia: Findings From the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2002," September 2005.
In 30% of handgun-owning households, the handgun was stored unlocked and loaded at the time of the survey.
National Institute of Justice, "Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms," May 1997. PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
28% of gun-owning households with children do not always keep guns locked in a secure place.
Peter Hart Research Associates, "Americans’ Attitudes on Children’s Access to Guns: A National Poll for Common Sense about Kids and Guns," July 1999.
Of gun-owning households with children, one quarter only "occasionally" lock and store the bullets in a separate place from the gun.
Peter Hart Research Associates, "Americans’ Attitudes on Children’s Access to Guns: A National Poll for Common Sense about Kids and Guns," July 1999.
Among homes with children and firearms, 40% had at least one unlocked firearm and 13% kept their unlocked firearm loaded or stored with ammunition.
The RAND Corporation, "Guns in the Family: Firearm Storage Patterns in U.S. Homes with Children," March 2001, an analysis of the 1994 National Health Interview Survey and Year 2000 objectives supplement. Also published as Schuster et al., "Firearm Storage Patterns in U.S. Homes with Children," American Journal of Public Health 90(4): 588-594, April 2000.
48% of gun-owning households with children do not regularly make sure that guns are equipped with child safety or other trigger locks.
Peter Hart Research Associates, "Americans’ Attitudes on Children’s Access to Guns: A National Poll for Common Sense about Kids and Guns," July 1999.
Only 39% of homes with children and firearms keep their firearm locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition.
The RAND Corporation, "Guns in the Family: Firearm Storage Patterns in U.S. Homes with Children," March 2001, an analysis of the 1994 National Health Interview Survey and Year 2000 objectives supplement. Also published as Schuster et al., "Firearm Storage Patterns in U.S. Homes with Children," American Journal of Public Health 90(4): 588-594, April 2000.
And there is a lot more. This is pretty scary.
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"assume"? It is OBVIOUSLY foreign to you!
