The mainstream media is in full anti-gun agitprop mode, following the release of a two-year CDC study that reports that shootings are now the third leading cause of death for children. Study reveals “staggering” toll of guns on U.S. kids cbsnews.com headlines. CDC: Shootings Kill or Injure at Least 19 US Children Each Day nbcbayarea.com announces. And once again . . .
none of the media reports link to the actual study. We contacted the CDC for a copy. Click here to read Childhood Firearm Injuries in the United States.
The “children” covered by the study are 17 and under. I’m not sure how the media suddenly figured that firearms are “now” number three on the childhood death list.
According to the CDC’s 2015 stats (above), unintentional injury and cancer are the top two causes of death for five to 14-year-olds, with suicide sitting at number three. For 15 – 24 year-olds (a better grouping), it’s unintentional injury, followed by suicide and homicide.
Has the percentage of firearms-related unintentional injury, suicide and/or homicides increased? That info might be relevant to a discussion about firearms safety and other related issues, but there’s no data on that.
We’ve tackled the contextless claim that “gun violence” is taking out our kids, most recently while fisking Mike “The Gun” Guy Weiser. But just so we’re clear about the role criminal activity plays in teenage firearms-related injuries and deaths, here’s anecdotal evidence from nbclosangeles.com:
[An off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer] was walking along the sidewalk on First Avenue, just south of Colorado Boulevard, when he was attacked from behind by the three teenage boys, Rodriguez said.
One of the suspects hit the officer in the head several times while another pointed a handgun at the officer and demanded his property, Rodriguez said.
“The victim thought the subjects were going to rob and shoot him so he retrieved his department issued handgun,” Rodriguez said. “The victim shot at the subjects in an effort to defend himself.”
The suspect with the handgun, the 15-year-old boy, and another suspect, one of the 14-year-old boys, were struck by the gunfire while the third suspect ran away when the shooting started and was not hit, according to Rodriguez.
The 15-year-old died of his injuries — but not before becoming a “childhood gun death” statistic that gun control advocates will use to try to deny Americans their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. Not to mention the teenage gang bangers shot during the normal course of their criminal activities.