We Can Prevent Gun Violence
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Why are children being shot to death and maimed? Why are their parents and teachers being shot? Possession of guns should be the responsibility of those who own them, not of taxpayers who must pay for the disability and death caused by misuse of guns.
Finally, the 2nd amendment was passed to allow for a single shot weapon to be carried for hunting or self-defense. Aren’t we putting the safety of our country at risk by circulating so many weapons with technically advanced rapid-fire capability and endlessly long magazines? And in these times, there are terrorist militias that can cause a multitude of injuries and death with current military weapons that are in circulation.
In Australia the sale and possession of semi automatic rifles is banned, and about 5% of the population owns a gun. Gun buyers may apply for a license that is issued after a month long waiting period. Gun owners register why the gun is needed (hunting, antique collecting, etc,) and how the gun is to be stored. The public in Australia is safer than before these laws were enacted in that there have been no mass shootings and many fewer guns in circulation.
Facts for 2008 2009 (see Protect Children Not Gus 2012 Children’s Defense Fund website).
34,387 U.S. children were injured by gun shot wounds
5740 U.S. children were murdered
Facts for 2002-20012
- 39 school shootings, many by semi automatic, rapid fire weapons where 71 children were murdered, 46 wounded, 36 adults killed and 50 wounded
- Killers in the following settings used semi-automatic weapons
- The Dark Knight Rises movie 12 killed, and 36 wounded
- The Sikh Temple 6 killed, and 3 wounded
- At the time that Sen. Giffords was severely injured, 6 were killed and many wounded
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html
http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/
