TODAY'S TWD: LOCK AND UNLOAD

In 1961, Bill Mumy played Jackie Chester in "Bang, You're Dead", an episode of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Jackie got hold of his uncle's gun, loaded it with real bullets, and went about town playing cowboy and acting as though he was going to shoot people.

At the end, Alfred Hitchcock came out to give his usual closing comments, but he admitted that it was not appropriate to send the audience off with his usual pithy remarks. Instead, he used the time to present what could be described as a public service announcement, warning parents that they should keep guns and ammunition out of the reach of children.
But according to these statistics from Common Sense About Kids and Guns, it's more than forty years on, and there are still parents out there who didn't heed Mr. Hitchcock's warning:

34% of children in the United States (representing more than 22 million children in 11 million homes) live in homes with at least one firearm. In 69 percent of homes with firearms and children, more than one firearm is present.

28% of gun-owning households with children do not always keep guns locked in a secure place.

Center for Disease Control statistics for 2005 - Children under the age of 17 killed by guns were 1490.

Every nine hours a child or teen was killed in a firearm-related accident or suicide in 2005.

On average, 3 children died every day in non-homicide firearm incidents from 2000-2005.

In 2005, there were 16,298 kids injured by a firearm -- and an additional 14,052 kids were injured from BB or pellet guns.

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.

On average in each of the last 10 years, more than 1,000 kids committed suicide with a firearm; 105 were under 15-years-old.

There were plenty more statistics, but you should visit "Common Sense About Kids and Guns" to learn more.....

BCnU!
Toby OB