Guardian - The macabre truth of gun control in the US is that toddlers kill more people
This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by mcar (a host of the General Discussion forum).
toddlers kill more people than terrorists do
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/13/the-macabre-truth-of-gun-control-in-the-us-is-that-toddlers-kill-more-people-than-terrorists-do
<snip>
This week, in my country, considered by some of its more embarrassing denizens to be the “greatest country in the world”, an outspoken Florida “gun rights” advocate left a loaded .45 calibre handgun in the back seat of her car and was promptly shot and wounded by her four-year-old child. Truly a pinnacle of human potential, much like the invention of paper in second-century BC China, or Aristotle holding forth in the Lyceum, or whoever first pointed out that Florida looks like America’s penis.
What do you say about the outspoken Florida “gun rights” advocate who left a loaded .45 calibre handgun in the back seat of her car and was promptly shot and wounded by her four-year-old child? I take no pleasure in violence and pain. I’m not happy that Jamie Gilt, 31 – who has built a thriving web presence on the argument that guns are not only perfectly safe around kids, but necessary for their protection – left a loaded handgun in reach of her four-year-old son, who then picked it up, aimed it at his mother, and pulled the trigger. I find zero delight in the thought of Gilt’s toddler’s almost certain panic and horror in that moment, nor the guilt he may well carry for the rest of his life (guilt that only his mother deserves). I’m sure being shot in the back really hurts – even more so when it comes with a side of nationwide liberal schadenfreude.
And I’m supposed to believe that frightened Syrian refugees – or whomever becomes the next rightwing scapegoat du jour – are the real threat to my children? I’m supposed to be afraid of sharks? Heavy metal music? Violent video games? Horse meat in my hamburger patties? Teenagers pouring vodka up their butts?
States with more guns have more gun deaths. Keeping a gun in your house increases your chances of accidental death by shooting, but does not make you safer. A woman’s chance of being murdered by an abusive partner increases fivefold if the partner has access to a gun. “Good guys with guns” are a fantasy. How much longer will we keep participating in this great collective lie that deadly weapons keep us safe?
The accidental shooting of Jamie Gilt is the object lesson that my absurd nation deserves. When even supposed gun safety experts cannot keep themselves safe from their own toddlers, we should take that as an unequivocal reminder that guns are inherently dangerous. They are exploding projectile machines designed specifically for killing. And that’s not bleeding-heart hyperbole – it’s the explicit reason why many people are drawn to them. Cowboy games. Vigilante justice. Power.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I'm beginning to feel really really old 
Response to malaise (Original post)
to control guns. There are plenty of other solutions. I bet these toddlers didn't have the recommended gun training.
I hope this isn't needed: 
Edit: It appears the FB page is still up. It's just these particular posts that appear to be missing.
https://www.facebook.com/Jamie-Gilt-for-Gun-Sense-135534393505143/
http://www.snopes.com/2016/03/09/jamie-gilt/
Not a cause for laughter or celebration, to be sure. It's fortunate this person wasn't killed. But it would be nice if anyone would recognize that things like this happening aren't just ironic; they are a reality check regarding the idea that saturating the environment with guns makes everyone safer somehow.
This one is particularly disturbing:
"Even my 4 year old gets jacked up to target shoot with the .22."
This would presumably be the 4-year-old who shot his mother with the pistol left in the back seat?
Jesus.
