Search This Blog

Popular Posts

Labels

Friday, December 28, 2012

Gun Culture & Fatalities. Who is to blame? Lessons from the USA and Singapore


The first time I went to the USA and saw a gun, on a policeman, I asked how many people had guns.
I think I was in Florida. He replied, 'Every household around here has a gun. Most people have several.'
After reading about the Sandy Hook School massacre of 6-year-old schoolchildren in late 2012, I read several more stories about children being killed, some deliberately, some accidentally.
The debate is raging about whether you should lock up the guns - away from households, lock guns within households, or lock away the people the authorities deem insane - before the dangerous ones kill anybody else.
Today I read two reports. One of a muttering woman who pushed a man, a stranger, onto a railway track in New York.
My reaction to that is: lock up the insane; and put barriers on platforms like in Singapore. Trains have to slow down to a crawl within the station to line up with the barriers.
The other tragic story was about the father with a child - the two-year-old grabbed the parent's gun and shot himself.
Should the gun carry a warning? It probably does. Small type. Matter of fact.
The warning must be more strongly worded. It should make it clear that leaving guns out leads to prosecution. It should list the numbers of fatalities to show it's not just a possibility but a probability.
Some parents are under average intelligence. (If average is the half way point, half are under average).
Some parents are young. Some gun owners are new gun owners. Some are new parents. New parents are tired by sleepless nights. Some are worried about something else - such as intruders, burglars.
Every gun should come with the instructions in large type to this effect:
Do not leave a gun or ammunition in reach of children. Place a lock and strong barrier between the gun and the child. A child is not legally responsible and should not have access to guns. A child can grab a gun or imitate you or set it off accidentally. You could set it off accidentally.
Even if you are in the same room, the child can grab the gun and play, injuring itself or others.
If you leave guns available to children, you are liable to criminal prosecution.
Many others have made a fatal mistake.
Numbers and names of children killed this way include: Sincere Smith, age 2, South Carolina, grabbed gun on Christmas Day, 2012. Father Rondell Smith, 30, arrested Wed 26 Dec 2012, Daily Mail newspaper report Dec 29. Do not add your family name to this list. The father got the gun after 'an intruder broke into the home'.
So indirectly should we blame the intruder? Make burglary, with or without a weapon, an offence which causes deaths indirectly?
Prevention is better than cure. Remove any one cause to reduce the casualty list. Remove two or more dangers to bring the numbers of lives lost nearer to the ideal of zero.

No comments: