Guns killing our children: a status report.

IT’S A DAILY OCCURRENCE. One more child is found carrying a gun at school. Another child is accidentally killed in the cross fire. In the last 2 years, the headlines included the massacre of 13 students at Columbine High School by two of their fellow classmates and a middle school teacher killed by a 13-year-old student in Lake Worth, Florida. During this past year, Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks lost his granddaughter to gun violence. Police believe that the male friend that she was with was the intended target but he ducked and she was hit. Parks stated, “It is still a very dangerous time to be young in a large city” (McDermott, 2000). Every year 30,000 Americans are killed by gunfire including 4,000 children and teenagers. It is estimated that there are currently 190 million firearms in civilian hands. Approximately, 65 million of them are handguns, responsible for most of the gun-related deaths and injuries (New York Times, 2000). Historically, the number one cause of death in adolescents has been due to accidents. However, during the period of 1985-1996, there was a decrease in teen deaths caused by accidents but an increase in the number of teen homicides (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 1999). In 1996, the rate of teen deaths (15 to 19 year olds) caused by accidents, homicide, and suicide was 62 per 100,000, with a range of 26 per 100,000 in Rhode Island and 298 per 100,000 in Washington, D.C. Specifically, teen firearm mortality rates for all races increased from 14.7 per 100,000 in 1980 to 24.5 per 100,000 in 1995. The data is even more concerning when broken down by race. The African American male teen mortality rate from firearms was 46.7 per 100,000 in 1980 and jumped to 120.3 per 100,000 in 1995. This rate was 3 to 4 times higher for African American teens than their white counterparts (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 1998). What factors account for this dramatic increase in teen deaths by gunfire? In an analysis of 17 adolescent boys who killed 45 students and teachers and wounded 85 others in school rampages over the last 7 years, researchers have found several common aspects. Being raised in a violent culture and easy access to guns, were at the top of the list (The Atlanta Constitution, 2000). The FBI has recently completed a 2-year study of school shootings. Their report urges school officials to take note of students who display behaviors considered to be precursors to violence. These behaviors include alienation, an unusual interest in sensational violence, manipulation of others, anger and other forms of disturbing conduct, an obsession with guns and violence, excessive Internet use, and verbal threats. The recommendations include that educators establish systems for dealing with threats of violence against students and staff members. Schools must analyze any threat of violence and should appoint a “threat-assessment coordinator” to oversee responses to threats (Johnson, 2000). Easy access to guns is a major contributing factor to the current situation. The Florida student who killed his middle school teacher stated that he obtained the .25 caliber semiautomatic handgun in the drawer of his grandfather’s bureau. Although Florida and 17 other states have a Child Access Prevention Law that requires gun owners to lock up their weapons, there is no mandate that gun owners must know and use guidelines for the safe storage of their guns. Many feel that these recent tragedies are reason for passing stricter legislation