On the Northcoast many families have firearms in the home. Going through a normal day's activities, guns can be seen on policemen or other law enforcement officials and occasionally in vehicles driven by citizens. Anyone who goes to the movies or watches television sees firearms in use.
Guns are certainly part of our society.
Unfortunately, sometimes guns are used in ways unintended by their owners. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports the rate of suicide is five times greater in homes that have guns than homes that don't. Every day in the United States sixteen people under the age of twenty are killed and many times that are injured by guns. In the U.S. for every intruder or attacker who is killed by gunfire, over forty family members or friends are fatally shot or die by suicide or homocide. There are important steps you can take to change these statistics.