Americans and their guns

[Lazarus 0]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8168465.stm

 

Two young children have been shot by their siblings in the space of 24 hours in the United States.

 

In Las Vegas, a two-year-old girl was in a critical condition after being shot by her four-year-old brother at their home, police said.

 

In South Carolina, a four-year-old boy was shot in the stomach by his three-year-old brother after the little boy found a gun.

 

The injured boy was expected to make a full recovery, police said.

 

The incident in Las Vegas happened on Thursday night after the girl's brother found a loaded 9mm handgun inside their home.

 

It went off while he was holding it, hitting his sister in her torso.

 

According to police, the father was home at the time and the gun appears to have been improperly secured.

 

The shooting involving the two brothers happened in Gray Court, South Carolina, also on Thursday night. They and their father were staying at the home of a family friend.

 

Laurens County Sheriff Ricky Chastain said it appeared the younger boy found the gun under a bed and accidentally shot his brother.

 

The injured boy was flown to hospital, where he underwent surgery, he said.

 

No charges have been filed in relation to either case.

 

Gun debate

 

The two incidents come less than a week after a five-year-old boy died after shooting himself in the head.

 

He had found a handgun inside his father's vehicle outside a Las Vegas pharmacy.

 

The father in that case has been charged with child endangerment.

 

In the US, the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. There are thought to be more than 200 million firearms in private hands.

 

Advocates of gun control face tough opposition from gun owners.

 

Critics of the current gun laws link high levels of gun crime and gun-related injury with high levels of gun ownership.

[Gejon 2]

Guns don't kill people, toddlers do.

 

 

 

Well they don't actually, just wound.

[Fop 1]

That's not even really a gun control issue, as such, it's an issue of being a complete fuckwit in allowing a gun you own to be left loaded (doubt a 3-4 year old would load it itself) and accessible to a child. Idiots.

[Guest alex]

That's not even really a gun control issue, as such, it's an issue of being a complete fuckwit in allowing a gun you own to be left loaded (doubt a 3-4 year old would load it itself) and accessible to a child. Idiots.

That's still a gun control issue though because inevitably many people are complete idiots.

[Fop 1]

That's not even really a gun control issue, as such, it's an issue of being a complete fuckwit in allowing a gun you own to be left loaded (doubt a 3-4 year old would load it itself) and accessible to a child. Idiots.

That's still a gun control issue though because inevitably many people are complete idiots.

 

Aye, Fop should have put in the usual Alexism, before you smelled a drop of blood in the water and arose from the depths.

 

 

 

But it's still not really gun control as such, as such a person could quite legally own a gun here in the UK (where gun control is much, much, much more stringent) and still be daft enough to leave it lying around loaded and in reach of a child (doubly illegal though that would be here - there's not a police officer constantly checking). Although here it would likely be a shotgun and be fatal to another child.

[Guest alex]

That's not even really a gun control issue, as such, it's an issue of being a complete fuckwit in allowing a gun you own to be left loaded (doubt a 3-4 year old would load it itself) and accessible to a child. Idiots.

That's still a gun control issue though because inevitably many people are complete idiots.

 

Aye, Fop should have put in the usual Alexism, before you smelled a drop of blood in the water and arose from the depths.

 

 

 

But it's still not really gun control as such, as such a person could quite legally own a gun here in the UK (where gun control is much, much, much more stringent) and still be daft enough to leave it lying around loaded and in reach of a child (doubly illegal though that would be here - there's not a police officer constantly checking). Although here it would likely be a shotgun and be fatal to another child.

Just increases the risks though, is all I meant. More guns and less controls = more fuckwits owning them.