Guns are killing our children. It ’s time we did something

Follow me on Twitter @drClaire We are all reeling from the news of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead and 14 injured. A 19-year-old former student has confessed to the shooting. He used a semiautomatic weapon that he purchased legally a year ago. Five years ago, when a gunman opened fire with a similar weapon at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, killing first-graders and teachers, there was an uproar: we must stop this from happening, we said. We must do something. But we didn’t.  And since the shooting at Sandy Hook, there have been at least 239 school shootings, with more than 400 people shot and 138 killed. And those are just school shootings; many more have been killed in other shootings, such as shooting in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017 that killed 58 people. For many reasons, as a country we have struggled to take actions that limit access to guns. We take the Second Amendment very seriously: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The problem is, too many guns aren’t being used as part of a well-regulated militia — or for hunting or sport. They are being used by angry or mentally ill individuals to kill innocent people, including innocent children. People kill, gun rights advocates say, not guns. And that is true. But without the guns, especially without guns like the one used in Parkland, they would be killin...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Children's Health Parenting Prevention Source Type: blogs