----- Original Message ----- From: "camplate" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 9:47 AM Subject: Re: Increase risk to kids
> > I got local news that I can never remember hearing growing up. I should > > start by saying that my daughter, Beth, has gone to more funeral > > parlors/funerals than her mother and I have. I think that she's gone to > > funerals for seven schoolmates over the last four years. > > > > And then, around 6:30 last night, I got a call from a friend from church > > saying that he could not make a church meeting I was chairing. It turns out > > that late yesterday afternoon, at a pool party across the street, a 17 year > > old senior boy that Beth knows fairly well shot a senior girl who I had in > > my Girl Scout troop in the face. She's clinging to life now in critical > > condition. > > > > Details are not available, but the boy has been charged. > > > > Talking with my wife last night, I tried to understand why things have > > changed. Even though I favor gun control, it can't just be the availability > > of guns. Where I grew up, lots of kids had guns for hunting. I think it > > may be involved with the fact that most people now have guns for protection > > instead of hunting. Plus, instead of gun safety almost being a religion, > > the gun is just bought and put in a drawer for just in case. > > > > Back in my day, kids who owned/used guns use to tell stories about how their > > dads really got upset with them when they violated a gun safety rule. Those > > stories encapsulated the importance of treating guns with respect. Now, > > guns are just there, just in case. The area is awash with guns casually > > bought, and intended for use on humans "just in case." My guess is that > > this has something to do with the unreality of a gun and its use at pool > > parties. > > > > But, dammit anyways, 18 year olds shouldn't have to go to this many funerals > > for people they know. They don't have to think about a friend of theirs > > being a murderer. The big risk at a teenage pool party should not be being > > shot. > > > > Dan M. > > With the understanding that one gun accident is one too many, I have to ask: how many of those past seven funerals were for gun deaths? Well, at least two. If the girl dies, this is 3/8. Statistics are low, but still significant enough so that it is 3 SD above a rate of 1 per year. > My niece and nephew have gone to 6 separate funerals, two for cancer, three for car wrecks, and one >for drowning. Their high school had a shooting, but no one was injured. None of the deaths I knew about were from natural causes. I agree that rate has gone down, as has car deaths. But, suicides and homicides are up significantly from when I was in high school. Dan M.
