Inaugural Knight's Korner - January 2004  Submitted by Marni Martenfeld, President, Knight Shooting Sports

 

The September 6, 2003, St. Pete Times reports "...a 14 year old boy accidentally shot to death his 12 year old friend [Sean Caroline] Friday afternoon as they played with the older boy's father's gun. The older boy's father, Louis S. Mevec, had left the loaded gun under the couch in the living room," stated the detective.   Unfortunately, this kind of tragedy happens more often than it should.   Education in gun safety is imperative in order to prevent accidental gun violence. Because guns are present in everyday American life, we need to safeguard ourselves and our children against accidental gun violence. While growing up, my family owned a collection of guns.   At a very young age, my education in gun safety began. I was shown the safe handling and operation of guns, as well; I was shown what a gun could do when my father took me to the local gun range.   I was also told never to touch any gun unless an adult I trusted was present and had given me permission. Now I own and operate an indoor gun range and am around guns everyday. I also teach customers how to safely operate their guns on and off the range. I would like to show you that guns are a real part of everyday American life. I will prove that ignorance and irresponsible storage of guns are the problems leading to the kind of tragedy that occurred on September 5, 2003. Following, I will demonstrate that education in gun safety and storage is the solution.
First, let's look at how guns are a real part of everyday American life. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees "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." In fact, approximately half the households in the US have one or more guns. Furthermore, Florida is one of the 38 States that permits its citizens to carry a concealed weapon. It's likely that you or your children may be exposed to a gun while visiting a friend or neighbor or even while walking on the street. Children are mostly at risk. According to author Freya Hanson in her book entitled "The Second Amendment, the Right to Own Guns," she states "the average child sees 8000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television before entering elementary school.   TV glamorizes the use of weapons."  Newsweek magazine identifies the problem that "young kids aren't able to distinguish between what looks like reality on screen and real life." They state that "nearly half of all accidental shootings of kids under 16 take place in the homes of friends and neighbors." When St. Pete Times reporter Peter Schweitzer interviewed one of Sean Caroline's classmate and friend after the tragedy, the little boy said "I always knew guns were dangerous, but I didn't know a bullet could pass through the body." Taking into account the prominence of guns in our society, a real and undeniable potential for tragedy to happen is obviously presented. Ignorance and irresponsible storage of guns are the leading causes to this problem. I say ignorance because studies by the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry show that "caregivers have unrealistic expectations of children's developmental levels and impulse control, which may influence [their] storage decisions or their inclination to address gun safety issues with children and adults with whom children spend time." This ignorance comes at a price. According to recent data from the US National Center for Health Statistics, as reported by a medical letter from the Center for Disease Control and the FDA, in 1999, 3385 children and teens were killed by gunfire. Florida State Statute 790.174 requires the safe storage of firearms and states that "a person who stores or leaves, on a premise under his control, a loaded firearm, and who knows or reasonably should know that a minor is likely to gain access to the firearm without lawful permission of the minor's parent or the person having charge of the minor, or without supervision required by law, shall keep the firearm in a securely locked box or container or in a location which a reasonable person would believe to be secure or shall secure it with a trigger lock, except when he is carrying the firearm on his body or in close proximity thereto. It is a punishable misdemeanor of the second degree if a person fails to store or leave a firearm in the required manner and as a result thereof a minor gains access to the firearm without lawful permission and possesses or exhibits it without supervision in a public place or in a careless or threatening manner.   A minor is defined as any person under the age of 16. Despite this law, irresponsible storage of guns happens frequently.   The American Journal of Public Health cited by the Children's Defense Fund found that 1.4 million homes with 2.6 million children had firearms that were stored unlocked and loaded.   This is exactly how the gun used to kill Sean Caroline was stored; under the couch. There is a solution we can use to safeguard ourselves and our children against accidental gun violence. That solution is education! Education in safe gun storage and handling is imperative. According to my college class psychographic analysis, 93% of the audience believes it is important to teach gun safety to children, but how? Talk to your children about the reality of guns in order to remove the mystery and glamour they see on television. The Parent's Guide to Gun Safety from the National Rifle Association recommends that a good time to introduce the subject to children is the first time he or she shows an interest in firearms, even toy pistols or rifles. They also advise using these toy guns as a way to demonstrate safe gun handling and to explain how they differ from real guns. Additionally, they provide instructions in the case that a child does find a gun while unsupervised. These are: Stop!   Don't touch!   Leave the area!   Tell an adult! Safe gun handling involves three basic rules. First, always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction away from yourself or others. Second, always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot; instead, rest it alongside your gun. Third, always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.   If you are not sure how to check if the gun is unloaded, secure it safely and ask for competent assistance. When the gun is not in use, store it safely using a lock box or container or use a trigger lock. In review, we discovered that guns are a real part of everyday American life. We proved that ignorance and irresponsible storage of guns are the problems that lead to tragic stories like Sean Caroline's. We also learned that education in gun safety and storage is the solution that could have prevented Sean's death. As you can see, education in gun safety is imperative in order to prevent accidental gun violence.   Considering that 78% of my class knows someone that keeps a gun in their home, a considerable risk is apparent which could be reduced by education. Let's hope that Sean did not die in vain.