From Krist Boardman:
The May 24 issue of USA TODAY featured a lead, front page article about the absolute tragedy of accidental gun violence in homes in the United States, violence which kills on the average of one child a week. But it’s not just the innocent children who die; their families and communities suffer terribly.
These accidents are preventable. Virtually all of these terrible incidents is the result of careless adults leaving loaded guns out somewhere in homes and cars where they are accessed by children and are inadvertently shot to death or where they unintentionally shoot another playmate or brother or sister.
The article, “Added Agony,” states that “children under age 12 die from gun accidents in the United States about once a week, on average. Almost every death begins with the same basic circumstances: an unsecured and loaded gun, a guardian’s lapse in attention. And each ends with the same basic questions: Who is to blame, and should the person be punished?”
Obviously someone is responsible for these unacceptable incidents. If not the owners of the guns, then who? But the USA article notes that prosecution and enforcement of these is very irregular. Some people go to jail for not securing the guns, while others do not. In either case the consequences are bad. The person who may go to jail could and frequently is the single mother of surviving children. Not only does the mother feel badly about the child who was killed, the surviving children lose their mother and may end up spending their younger years in foster care.
If there are no criminal penalties for not securing the guns that lead to these tragedies, justice is also not served. Granted that the loss of the child is a terrible punishment for a family member, a punishment they may never recover from. But the state is responsible for protecting the most vulnerable especially and to do nothing is to abrogate the state’s responsibility.
There is a solution and that is vigorous education on the responsibility to secure guns in the household so they are not accessible to children. The best solution is not to have a gun in the house where it could also be used in an incident of domestic violence, but if guns are kept in the house they must be kept securely away from children (and other irresponsible people–more on that later).
Statistically speaking, one child killed from accidental gun death per week does not sound like a lot in a country our size, but…….52 children killed a year from this method is 52 too many.
Of course, a lot more people than that die in the United States from gun violence. It could be as many as 50,000 people a year. As a nurse working in the central Maryland prison hospital I see many, many victims of gun violence. These are the survivors who are not dead, and while there are a lot of them in the prison hospital there are also a lot of other surviving gunshot victims I do not see who are in regular hospitals. The costs of treating and rehabilitating these people have to be considerable.
We are hampered by the inability to collect sufficient data in order to design a strategy to counteract these trends. The Congress has consistently blocked efforts to study gun violence as a public health crisis as proposed by a group from Johns Hopkins University.
There are other huge gaps that represent our country’s inadequate response to gun violence. One of the Trump Administration moves after the new president came in was to cancel federal regulations pertaining to making guns less accessible to people with psychiatric problems, as if we needed more mental patients with automatic weapons such as what happened with Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Do Trump Administration officials really want to put more automatic weapons in the hands of mental patients by cancelling these regulations?
Recently I wrote to Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler that much could be learned from the Australian example where gun violence was cut significantly. Gahler’s response was no response. He believes in guns enough to sponsor a gun raffle as part of his campaign to be elected. But for children’s guns safety he should be running a public relations campaign to encourage better prevention in the homes where gun violence is most likely to occur.
Just one less child killed from this accidental violence in the home would be worth the effort.
At what level does personal responsibility stop and government responsibility start? Gun accidents while terrible are the fault of the gun owner, I don’t think government needs to punish them anymore than the are going to punish themselves. Government cannot create a Utopia, it can only facilitate an environment were hard working people can flourish. Please take you big Government nose out of my business.If the government is responsible for protecting those most vulnerable, what is your stance on abortion? While I agree that abortion has helped our country(read Freakonomics for the societal benefit argument) it is still murder? Is not murder worse than an accidental death? What about an unattended child that drowns in a pool? Should the parent go to jail for that? Your argument is only to get your name out there as against Trump.
Of course abortion is not murder. That old chestnut is the argument of those who are unable to grasp anything beyond knee jerk sentimentality. I happen to believe that the role of government is to protect the most vulnerable among us, and I have no issue with my tax dollars being used in this manner. Too many people have guns, legally or not, and far too many of them are careless with containment. There is no argument with that statement. It is reality.
When does killing become murder? 3 months, 6 months, after the baby has been born? If you stop a beating heart, detectable after 6-7 weeks, what is it? I know this is a tough question to answer, but it is vital and not knee jerk sentimentality. To what end are you willing to protect those most vulnerable? If a parent makes a mistake and wrecks into a tree killing their child should society file charges against them and lock them up? I have no statistics on this, but I bet it happens one hell of a lot more often than 52 times a year. Lock em up is not the solution to every problem, and criminalizing everything is just as bad. Bad things happen, not everything can be fixed by more laws.
Currently abortion is not murder. However, if someone other than the mother kills the unborn child it very well could be murder. So, if moma wants to kill her unborn child, OK, but anyone else and its murder.
Currently, at least 38 states have fetal homicide laws. The states include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia;and>Wisconsin>
Why is it murder for anyone other than the Mother? Well, that’s because the fetus has the status of a “person” and, as a person it has rights. One of those rights is the right to life, unless of course, Moma wants to kill you.
Pretty simple…… right?
“…as if we needed more mental patients with automatic weapons such as what happened with Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Do Trump Administration officials really want to put more automatic weapons in the hands of mental patients by cancelling these regulations?”
None of the weapons used by the criminal in the Sandy Hook shootings were automatic. I do not believe there has been a criminal related shooting committed in the US using an automatic weapon in decades.
Instead of going after legal gun owning individuals, why don’t you direct your efforts to attacking the real criminals: the pharmaceutical industry, and the monsters who dosed our children, just like Lanza was, for nothing more than just their convenience?
What about school buses without seatbelts? How many children die every year because they’re not strapped in? Let’s talk about those accidentals. We even pay taxes for these accidents. If your child is a danger to Society, then keep them out of Society. Stop cuddling them.
Does anyone think the threat of jail time is a greater deterrent that the loss of your child? Only a progressive could make that mental leap.
Are negligent firearm discharges a huge problem in Harford County?
Far too many people own automobiles and are negligent in their operation. LMAO
What is it now 6 strawman arguments and no one can intelligently discuss Boardmans statement.
Buncha a uneducated nit wits.
52 incidents / 321,000,000 people in the United States = .000000016 chance of happening. Lets not create a public policy and criminal punishment that will in no way effect this number. There you go no strawman argument, no comparison, just the facts. Stop trying to make public policy using anecdotes designed to elicit strong feelings, it always has unintended results. Please o’ wise man of the Wonk Educate us nit wits…
Oh but your strawman gibberish was so much fun….
When does killing become murder? 3 months, 6 months, after the baby has been born? If you stop a beating heart, detectable after 6-7 weeks, what is it? I know this is a tough question to answer, but it is vital and not knee jerk sentimentality. To what end are you willing to protect those most vulnerable? If a parent makes a mistake and wrecks into a tree killing their child should society file charges against them and lock them up? I have no statistics on this, but I bet it happens one hell of a lot more often than 52 times a year. Lock em up is not the solution to every problem, and criminalizing everything is just as bad. Bad things happen, not everything can be fixed by more laws.
Moron.
Nice name calling, really shows the strength of your arguments.
So, what’s the proposal? There is already COMAR on unsupervised (defined) minor child’s access to a loaded firearm.
Krissy,
Why don’t you try to take my gun away?
There is no proposal. That’s the catch 22. Boardman’s wants the readers of the Dagger to think about what he is saying. People like Boardman wish to appeal to your sense of moral responsibility in order to lead your way of thinking. The ultimate response to this predicament is to pass more laws that either strip you of your rights guaranteed by the constitution or hinder them drastically. The problem with the law is that there are too many laws. Another problem with the law is that those who enforce and administer the law are not required to follow the law, especially in most recently passed laws. When you review the laws being passed, always look to see that clause that says “unless the person is a duly authorized law enforcement officer or a member of a governmental agency”. This clause is always put into laws because the government wishes to contain or restrain the US citizen and NOT put the same restrictions on those who we are supposed to be holding at a higher level of responsibility due to public trust. The government wishes to make ALL OF US follow the law and wishes that no laws are needed to be followed by the government. The government would love to remove gun ownership from the public and people like the author of this article are helping them all the way. In a final note, I would like to remind everyone that the law has made it illegal for anyone to own a gun that has been convicted of any crime punishable by more than a year in jail. This has lead to the government of Maryland to make most misdemeanor laws punishable by more than a year in jail, even though the whole idea of misdemeanors was to punish people for breaking minor laws, yet not destroy or alienate them from their rights that are “god given” as the constitution declares. Maryland and the US government has been trying to disarm the public since the passage of the Brady Bill in the 1980’s. What better way to control the masses than to make them dependent on the government for protection, not allow the people to defend and depend on themselves and disarm the public so the government and its agents are the only ones that have guns and can force the government on the citizens of this country with little to no resistance. Accidents are exactly what they are, accidents. This is what the majority of Boardman’s article is about, accidents. Part of the law is about a person’s intent and accidents are not intentional. I understand that negligence is a bad thing and another demon, but severe punishment for unintentional actions is wrong as well. I urge the public to not buy into the antigun sentiment that is sponsored by my government and people like the author of this article. I do not own a gun and am not allowed to own a gun due to Marijuana convictions. I have not owned a gun since I was a teenager, nor do I have any use for a gun. However, I am a supporter of my countrymen being allowed to own guns. It is your right and far too many of those rights have already been obliterated by the lawless government that has taken control of this country in the last 100 years. Just follow the gun safety guidelines and few accidents will happen.
“yet not destroy or alienate them from their rights that are “god given” as the constitution declares.”
Why does the NRA’s “American Rifleman” magazine refer to it as a “natural right” on the masthead page? Are they afraid of offending atheist members?
It’s probably exactly what you’re referring to. Gotta be Politically Correct now a days. I would say that any “natural right” is one that is “god given”……
You have to wonder what Boardman is running for this time. These inane liberal arguments might work in Baltimore City, PG County or Montgomery County, where the constitution and individual rights are a doormat, but that ____ won’t fly here. Krissy just pack up and move to Australia or somewhere else where you might find a following. You are a joke here and will be soundly rejected for any elected position that you are obviously trying to positioning yourself for. You want to talk stats, look at how big Trump took Harford County in a large part because of people like you destroying anything respectable about the Democrat’s Party.
Could Boardman and Helton be the same person? Sort of like Don Diego and Zorro, or Bruce Wayne and Batman. They both keep running for public office but never win, and I’ve never seen the two of them together.
They are not one in the same, but they could be related, without a doubt. It’s the old Democrat socialist “control everyone’s lives attitude.”
Abortion is murder, plain and simple. The Supreme Court or even the Congress of the United States can’t do away with God’s law, “Thou shalt not murder” and call it something else. To summarize Sir William Blackstone, man’s law is no law of it violates God’s law.
Don’t forget, the Supreme Court once ruled that black people were property. We look back today and know it was a wrong decision. I long for the day when we can look back and say they were wrong on abortion too. I wish there was as much passion for unborn babies as there is for the anti-gun movement.
There were NO AUTO WEAPONS at Sandy Hook.Our gun rights,unlike Australia’s, are guaranteed by the US constitution Bill of Rights just like voting rights. Maryland has strong laws about storing guns. If those laws are not enforced it’s the courts, judges and juries problem not a responsible gun owners problem.
,
It was an AR-15 Semi-automatic Bushmaster style assault rife. The Second Amendment only guarantees the right of “A well regulated militia” to bear arms. The U.S. Constitution does not give give anyone the right to own any gun. Your talking NRA-speak . Gun sellers are telling you lies to sell you guns. Oldest sales trick in the book.
Yo, Troll boy. I know you get satisfaction from trolling here. Seriously.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
It doesn’t say the right of the people in the Militia? Commas?
To take it one step even further, the Constitution says that we are entitled to all rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the Right to the Common Law of England as it existed when the Constitution was written. The Common Law of England specifically guaranteed the right to bear arms to anyone of the Protestant faith, as it was decreed by the King of England. Most religions of Christianity in America are Protestant, or are of the Protestant denomination. The only other Christian faith that I can think of is the Catholic religion and Catholics are NOT guaranteed this right to bear arms, yet the Bill of Rights granted them this freedom. What I am getting at is that the right to bear arms is not just a Constitutional right, it can be construed to be a religious right in meaning. This means that being denied the right to bear arms is not only a 2nd Amendment infringement, it is a 1st Amendment infringement as well…..
The difference between and automatic and a semi automatic is substantial. Both sides of this argument like to argue terminology, and thats where everyone loses. We’re not speaking a common language. Assault Rifle and Assault Weapon refer to two completely different things. Automatic and semiautomatic are very very different. I loves me guns, I won’t let anyone takes me guns, but I think theres room for better gun laws. The problem is, the people writing the laws don’t know guns, mechanically, and end up banning all the scary looking stuff, but not the dangerous stuff.
Around 30 children die a day after accidentally ingesting their parents legal or illegal drugs. Where is the outrage?
Asking for a friend.
in 2015 it was 35 a day just from opiates.