Separating Kids and guns

Even the most hard-nosed police officers and veteran reporters wince when stories come across their desks about children killed in accidents involving firearms. Yet the reports keep coming in with alarming frequency. Every day,

10 American children 18 or under are killed in handgun suicides, homicides and accidents, according to the Centre to Prevent Handgun Violence, and many more children are wounded. In larger urban areas, gunshot wounds to children ages 16 and under have increased 300 percent since 1986. From the National Council for Health Statistics, more chilling numbers: in 1087, one out of every 10 children who died before the age of 20 was killed by a gun. It is enough to more concerned legislators to vote for new safety measures - and in Virginia, the state senate has done so. If house delegates add their votes in sufficient numbers, a sensible child-gun safety bill can go on the books.

The senate-passed proposal now before the House Courts of Justice Committee in Virginia is a modest approach, similar to a law enacted last year in Florida. It focuses on ways to discourage adults from leaving loaded gun accessible to children. If a child obtained an improperly stored loaded gun and killed or wounded someone, the adults gun owner could be guilty of a misdemeanor.

The measure also would mandate that a gun-safety program be taught in the state’s public schools beginnings next year.

Supporters also note that the intent is not to put grief-stricken parents in prison for the death of their children. Haft the time, children are killed with guns owned by someone other than their parent; 30 percent of the time, it is a neighbour’s gun. In any event, prosecutors would have discretion whether to bring charges, and most are not insensible to the grief of parents.

Support for this bill comes from gun owners, who point out that the measure is not a gun ‘control’ bill in the sense that it would affect anyone’s ownership of a firearm. It does not prevent children from using or possessing guns while under the supervision of an adult.

It just one child’s life were saved by this measure, the lawmakers in Virginia could be proud to have helped. With passage by the house, the child-gun safety bill can be given the try that it certainly merits.

ОГРАДИТЬ ДЕТЕЙ ОТ ОГНЕСТРЕЛЬНОГО ОРУЖИЯ

Separating Kids from Guns

Американская общественность обеспокоена растущей статистикой самоубийств, убийств и ранений среди детей и молодежи, совершаемых с помощью огнестрельного оружия. В штатах Вирджиния и Флорида принимаются робкие попытки законодательным путем обязать родителей хранить свое оружие в местах недоступных для детей. Предполагается, что родители должны нести ответственность за несоблюдение мер безопасности.

Законопроект, ограждающий детей от огнестрельного оружия, заслуживает внедрения в судебную практику.

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