I have mentioned before that I frequent a website named Opposing Views.  I was there again a few days ago and read an article I could not let slide.  Read the article here if you want to.  I would read it if I were you, but if you only have a few minutes, here is my response to the Freedom States Alliance’s argument:

Using the same logic that the fear mongers and freedom haters at the “Freedom” States Alliance uses, we should immediately ban the sale and possession of every container that can hold more than 2 inches of water. That may sound extreme, but what you are about to read will hopefully help to provide you with some insight on just how dangerous guns are not when compared to other things that we consider “normal” and “fun”.

In 2005, the last year with full data available, the CDC reports 404 firearm related deaths total for children under the age of 14, that is inclusive of the 75 that were unintentional. Also in 2005 there were 1,748 non-fatal firearm related injuries. I will grant to anyone that these numbers are too high and something needs to be done to reduce that number, I just vehemently disagree with the anti-rights gun control groups out there as to what that something should be. I believe that education is the road to fewer firearm accidents and that when children know what a gun is and how dangerous it is, they are less likely to want to play with it or do something that will cause injury to them or others. By that same token, the gun control groups say that there should be no guns in the home, or if they are in the home that they need to be locked away in a place that the children cannot access them in any way. The problem with this method is that if somehow the children do get access to the gun they are far more likely to be so curious about the firearm that they will want to investigate further and that is when the accidents will happen.

During that same year there were 856 fatal drownings of children age 14 or younger and 2,780 non-fatal drownings or water incidents where a child was hospitalized for injuries from being in water but did not die. Now correct me if my math is wrong, but that means that more the twice the number of children died that year from drowning than did from firearms, and an even more applicable comparison since 810 of the 856 drowning deaths were unintentional, that rate is over 10 times higher than the unintentional rate of death by firearms. Also 1,032 more children were injured in water in the U.S. than were injured by firearms.

I have 3 children of my own and don’t want them to be hurt or die in any way, but I have to be realistic in how I view the world. I cannot protect them from everything, so the only thing that I can do is help to prepare them for they might face in the world. My kids may come in contact with a gun outside of my control and I want to know that they will understand that real guns are not toys and do the right thing, which is to leave the gun alone and tell an adult (who hopefully knows what the hell they are doing since so many people are afraid of firearms these days). I also know that my job as a parent is not to remove all the risk in life, but to help my children learn how to manage risk, and to make the most sensible decision in every situation.

By the way, I think I may have inadvertently just made the case for the Brady Campaign Against Bodies of Water or the Bathtub and Pool Policy Center. Oops… sorry Home Depot, you may have to start doing background checks on everyone who wants to buy a tub or an above ground pool, and we’ll have to watch for those straw bathers out there.

Stay safe, keep your powder dry, your ammo ready and your eye on the front sight.

Matt