We have a choice to make if we want to keep our guns

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Just a friendly note to check your references on this. The American Academy of Pediatrics is fond of posting that firearm accidents are one of the primarily ways kids get hurt/injured, but if you read their reference material, you'll see how misleading these statistics really are.

For example, one study defines a "child" as anyone under 20 years of age. In another one I read a few years back, they defined African American "children" as anyone under 33 years of age. Digging a little deeper, you'll find that they're counting gang shootings as "children".

I work for a very large health insurance company. A few years ago I pulled Emergency Room utilization records from claims and looked at the E-codes in the diagnosis fields 1-9. E-codes tell you how accidents occur and are quite specific. I reviewed three years of data with 4.5 million members per year. Want to take a wild guess at how many firearm-related accidents I found? (Notes: I didn't count suicides as accidents and I classified newborns to 12 years of age as children, 13-17 as adolescents and 18+ as adults; I focused on 0-17 year olds).

I found one firearm accident. It occurred with a BB gun. That was it.

The way kids are really hurt, at least from what I saw in the claims, was falling down stairs, falling out of bed, etc. Firearms constituted one of the lowest, if not the lowest, categories of accidents for kids.

I'm going to try to replicate this study next year. I'm hoping that I'll be able to publish the results.

Thank you Doc !

Data, facts, and reason - - - rather than scare tactics. How unusual that is nowadays. I was already familiar with how the AAP came up with their 'statistics'. You presented them brilliantly and I'll have to copy your reply so I can pass it on to others. I hope your study will be available to the general public. I'd be very interested in reading it. Regards, - - -
 
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I think we all need to take a breath and quit fighting amongst each other. Seems we have a MORE IMPORTANT fight looming. Firearm owners need to unify now more than ever.

At first I too was clamoring why didn't this lady have a safe to keep her firearms from this mentally impaired child? Then I heard she DID. So was it unlocked? Did she give him the combination???

I don't yet own a safe. Because I have teens in the house I have a trigger lock on each or locked in pistol boxes. They are also not "out in the open". That's my choice.

Here's the problem with mandating safe usage as I see it. How so you enforce the actual use? Who gets combos? Who gets keys?? What happens if someone inadvertently leaves it open?? Who gets penalized???

I believe IMO firearms should have limited access but that definition would vary. What I do in my home with teens may not be what a single old guy living in the mountains needs to do. Too many variables involved to enforce such a law. Peace!
 
zip777 - you make some very good points on securing firearms.

I'd just like to say, though, that IMO strong, healthy, and even heated debate is a good thing. I don't doubt the sincerity of others here - we're all supporters of the 2A. We may disagree on some matters, but that only gives us a chance to test our ideas among ourselves. No comment is taken personally, or is meant to be taken personally by fellow supporters of the 2nd Amendment. I respectfully must say that I don't don't consider disagreement 'fighting among ourselves'. In football terms its more of a practice scrimmage.

You can absolutely bet that the antis will come up with the same kind of proposals and much stricter ones. We should welcome that they be aired out here. This helps us prepare.

Regards, - - -
 
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Chill out people.
Calm down and take a breath.

The original subject here is the question by the OP:
The choice boils down to loosing our 2nd amendment or being REQUIRED to buy a gun safe. Which would you choose?
I would choose a safe.
Of course, I'm already covered....... ;)

It would be nice if that would do it.
It won't.
The other side will never stop there.

I do believe everyone should have a safe. It does give one peace of mind, and can save your guns. How and when you use it is up to you.

Use common sense, folks. Protect what you have every way you can.

These endless emotional arguments always amaze me. People seem to think stating their opinion repeatedly and heatedly will convince others to agree with them.
That's true on both sides of the gun issue.

The ONLY thing that will protect our rights is having a majority of the population that own guns or wish to own guns. From that majority, we have to have a huge percentage willing to step up and be recognized, and willing to provide the money to fight the fight.

So, talk calmly with the people you know.
Encourage them to protect Freedom.
Encourage them to stand with us.
Encourage them to join the NRA.
Encourage them to let legislators know where they stand.
 
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