A disturbing study by Florida Atlantic University was just published about gun-related deaths. It looked at deaths of children related to gun violence and how often these tragedies occur. Some of the statistics are truly so terrifying in how many children fall victim to gun violence.
In 2017, there were 144 police officers who died in the line of duty and about 1,000 U.S. active duty military throughout the world who died, whereas 2,462 school-age children were killed by firearms.
Children are dying faster than police officers in the line of duty and active duty military combined. They found there were 38,942 fatalities due to guns among 5 to 18-year-olds from 1999 to 2017.
That number is way too high, especially when compared to other developed nations. Firearm homicides in the United States totaled 14,415 in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This means the 2016 death rate by guns was about 45 individuals per million people. The United States made up 14.8 percent of the world’s gun deaths in 2016, yet it only makes up about 4.5 percent of the global population.
Furthermore, the FAU study found the death rate of children due to gun violence in the U.S. is six to nine times higher than in other developed nations.
If these statistics do not force an immediate call to action against gun violence, then nothing ever will. These children are being murdered because our country does not have adequate gun control laws.
The problem is we only talk about these statistics and making a change after a mass murder. Then the issue fades away until another mass shooting occurs. These statistics need to be remembered because if we forget about them, more children will die.
Action must be taken in this country in order to see a decrease in the numbers. If you oppose taking action by creating stricter gun laws, you do not care for the safety of these children who are being gunned down in their schools, churches and other places in which they should be able to feel safe.
It should not take 10 minutes at a gun show to get an assault rifle, and, unfortunately, that is the current situation in this country. People should not be able to get a license to conceal and carry with the minimalistic background checks that are performed.
Additionally, any gun that can murder over 30 people in just a few seconds should not be available on the market. A gun like that is not necessary for self-defense, especially because all gun owners should be trained to take only a few accurate shots if they need to defend themselves.
Some people offer the solution of arming teachers. Yet this is fighting fire with fire and will not end well. I can name 10 teachers in my middle school and high school that should definitely not be trusted with a gun.
We are supposed to be sending our children to schools for a safe learning environment that will allow them to thrive. Arming every teacher will only create an even more dangerous situation.
The second that 20 children between the ages of six and seven were murdered in cold blood in Sandy Hook is the minute we should have cracked down on gun laws and use immediately. New Zealand did it this past week, reacting quickly and efficiently to prevent another gun-related massacre.
There is no justification for the murder of children like that. Therefore, there is no justification for not targeting the weapons that allowed for it to happen. Why would we rather see our children die than create stricter laws and rules that might have prevented the deaths of more than 38,000 children over the past two decades?
