Re: smart pistols

From: stencil (stencil@bcn.net)
Date: Tue May 02 2000 - 10:49:43 MDT


Mike Lorrey claims and Joe Dees is skeptical:
>>Being for more safety for kids always sounds reasonable, and nobody
>>wants to be seen as 'hating babies', however the mere fact that more
>>toddlers die in 5 gallon buckets than are killed with guns indicates
>>that there may not really be that much of a safety problem, especially
>>considering accidental injury and death from firearms is at an all time
>>historical low (ever since they started taking stats in 1903).
>>
>Please furnish the list with your five-gallon-bucket toddler-drowning statistics, and a source for them.

http://www.nasar.org/library/response_1995-fall_dickison.shtml

Of the approximately 3,000 children treated annually in
      hospital emergency rooms for submersion accidents,
80 percent are admitted.(4) It is estimated that 15
percent of the population has
      experienced a life-threatening episode in the water.

[...] Drowning rates for black children (4.5/100,000) are
almost twice those for white children
(2.6/100,000).2,3,4,7 Males drown four times more
      often than females.(2,3,4,6) In one 10-year study in
Washington state, boys after one year of age had two to
eight times greater risk of having a
      significant submersion incident than did girls.

[...] It should be remembered that any container of liquid
into which a child can fit is a potential site for
drowning. Five-gallon industrial buckets hold particular
appeal to the
      curious toddler with his cephalad center of gravity
and short reaching
      span. Unless the bucket tips over, the young child
may not be able to
      extricate himself.

[...]Frequency of Drowning in Different
            Media
Saltwater
1-2 %
Fresh Water 98 %
? ? Swimming 50%
Pools Private 30%
? ? ?
       Public, Lakes, rivers 20%
? ?
            Bathtubs 15%
? ? Buckets of Liquid 4%
? ? Fish Tanks or Ponds 4%
? ? Toilets ? 1%
? ? Washing Machines ? 1%
------------------------------
...references are cited at that website. Note that sample
boundaries are very fuzzy: "toddler," "infant," or
"pediatric population." Comparisons with firearms
Accidental Discharges are difficult because of recent
years' use - and contamination - of the stats for
political purposes. Mike Lorrey's point natheless is well
taken IMO: firearms AD's do not occur frequently enough
to justify hysteria; the rationale for the agitation to
prohibit guns must be sought elsewhere.

stencil sends
RKBA!

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