| SAT MAY 04, 2013 AT 09:04 PM PDT Accidental Shootings of Children and Teens Since Newtown -- I dare you to read this entire diary by teehsu
A few months after Newtown, when it seemed like people had started to forget the horror of kindergartners being gunned down in their school, I heard someone I know say that she wanted to get a gun to keep in her home for protection. I started thinking about the relative rarity of armed home invasions versus the risk that a gun in the home would be used to harm the people living in it -- particularly the children. I began collecting media reports of accidental shootings of children and teens, but stopped after going through a few months because it was so depressing. Then after last week's shooting death of a 2-year-old girl by her 5-year-old brother, and after noting the view of some that such shootings were rare, I decided to finish the list (well, at least try to get it up to date). I learned that in just the month of April, there were at least four children aged 6 and under who were shot to death by other young children. So here is a list of accidental shootings of children and teens since the Newtown massacre on December 14, 2012. As of May 4, 2013 -- less than five months later -- this list includes 137 accidental shootings, 57 of which were fatal. These children and teens were accidentally shot by themselves, by parents, siblings, relatives, friends, neighbors, and caregivers. In other words, these shootings were not by strangers. Many of the guns used in these shootings were obtained by family members for personal protection. This list is not exhaustive, as many accidental shootings are unreported. It also doesn't include suicides using guns kept in the home, which are also often unreported in the media. In addition, I left out quite a few gun injuries suffered by older teens. Finally, this list does not include several incidents of shootings by children and teens when the victim was an adult. I challenge you to read all of the articles linked below the jump and conclude that there is no need to change anything about the way we deal with guns as a society. 1. December 15, 2012: 3-year-old boy shoots and kills himself with gun found in the home of his uncle, who is a state trooper. http://www.nydailynews.com/... 2. December 20, 2012: 2-year-old boy shoots and kills himself after picking up a gun his grandfather left on a chair. http://www.wbbjtv.com/... 3. December 22, 2012: 15-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by neighbor showing off his gun. http://www.wncn.com/... 4. December 25, 2012: 2-year-old boy shot and killed himself with his father’s gun on Christmas Day. http://www.wafb.com/... 5. December 25, 2012: 10-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by his 12-year-old brother while playing with a gun on Christmas Day. http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/... 6. December 28, 2012: 12-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by his uncle during deer hunt. http://www.wnct.com/... 7. December 31, 2012: 17-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by younger brother cleaning a shotgun. http://www.wptz.com/... 8. December 31, 2012: 18-year-old boy shot in the head and killed by a 13-year-old relative while they were shooting birds. http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/... 9. December 31, 2012: 8-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by father cleaning his rifle. http://www.thecherawchronicle.com/... 10. January 1, 2013: 16-year-old boy shot and killed his 15-year-old friend on New Year’s Day with a gun they bought on the street for $40. http://accidentalgunshots.tumblr.com/... 11. January 2, 2013: 13-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed while shooting at trash pile with friends. http://www.kristv.com/... 12. January 2, 2013: 16-year-old boy accidentally shot by 16-year-old friend while playing with gun found behind a gas station. http://www.ksdk.com/... 13. January 4, 2013: 16-year-old boy accidentally shot by his father while hunting deer. http://www.kcentv.com/... 14. January 7, 2013: 4-year-old boy accidentally shot by mother’s boyfriend as he was showing his gun to a friend. http://fox4kc.com/... 15. January 7, 2013: 15-year-old boy accidentally shot himself. http://www.somdnews.com/... 16. January 8, 2013: 15-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed by her 19-year-old brother while they fought over a video game. http://www.cbs58.com/... 17. January 9, 2013: 2-year-old boy shot himself in the chest with a gun found in his home. http://setxhomepage.com/... 18. January 10, 2013: 4-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed by another young child with gun found lying on chair. http://fox4kc.com/... 19. January 10, 2013: 14-year-old boy accidentally shot while hunting with a friend. http://www.wcnc.com/... 20. January 10, 2013: 12-year-old boy fatally shot in the chest by his cousin, who wanted to show him the shotgun he got for Christmas. http://annistonstar.com/... 21. January 12, 2013: 2-year-old boy shot in head by brother handling pellet gun. http://www.foxcarolina.com/... 22. January 13, 2013: Juvenile shot in back in hunting accident. http://www.kpcnews.com/... 23. January 14, 2013: 12-year-old boy accidentally shoots and kills himself while handling gun at home. http://www.kmbc.com/... 24. January 14, 2013: 17-year-old boy shot and killed by 18-year-old friend while playing with gun. http://hamptonroads.com/... 25. January 15. 2013: 17-year-old boy accidentally shot self while handling gun at friend’s house. http://www.cleveland.com/... 26. January 15, 2013: 13-year-old boy shot and killed by another teen while rabbit hunting. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/... 27. January 16, 2013: 15-year-old boy accidentally shot himself with a hunting rifle inside his home. http://www.carolinalive.com/... 28. January 18, 2013: 15-year-old boy accidentally shot by his 17-year-old friend after his friend stole a relative’s guns and they played with them. http://www.fauquiernow.com/... 29. January 19, 2013: 15-year-old accidentally shot his 14-year-old friend while playing with his grandfather’s gun. http://www.wkyt.com/... 30. January 20, 2013: 14-year-old boy accidentally shot in face by father while hunting. http://www.newsworks.org/... 31. January 20, 2013: 5-year-old accidentally shot by 7-year-old while playing with gun. http://www.tallahassee.com/... 32. January 20, 2013: 18-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed while he and his friends were passing around a gun. http://www.nola.com/... 33. January 20, 2013: 14-year-old girl accidentally shot. http://www.boonvilledailynews.com/... 34. January 22, 2013: 16-year-old boy accidentally shot by another teenager while playing basketball. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/... 35. January 24, 2013: 2-year-old boy shot and killed by his 18-year-old brother who was playing with a gun. http://theadvocate.com/... 36. January 24, 2013: 4-year-old accidentally shot and killed with his father’s illegally-owned gun the week after the child’s mother demanded that he get rid of the gun. http://www.ohio.com/... 37. January 24, 2013: 3-year-old shoots self with gun found in his home. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/... 38. January 26, 2013: 15-year-old accidentally shot and killed himself with “family handgun.” http://www.wate.com/... 39. January 27, 2013: 17-year-old boy accidentally shot by his 16-year-old friend while they were playing with a gun. http://www.nola.com/... 40. January 27, 2013: 4-year-old found gun in home, accidentally shot himself. http://www.wral.com/... 41. January 31, 2013: 3-year-old boy accidentally shot while father cleaning gun. http://fox4kc.com/... 42. February 1, 2013: 18-year-old accidentally shoots self while trying to dislodge stuck cartridge from rifle. http://whotv.com/... 43. February 1, 2013: 5-year-old girl accidentally shot in stomach at her home. http://dfw.cbslocal.com/... 44. February 3, 2013: 13-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed by her 14-year-old brother while he handled a shotgun in their home. http://www.wlns.com/... 45. February 4, 2013: 18-year-old accidentally shoots himself with an assault weapon while trying to fix a chamber jam. http://www.ketv.com/... 46. February 4, 2013: 18-year-old accidentally shot while cleaning gun. http://www.koaa.com/... 47. February 5, 2013: 3-year-old boy fatally shot himself in the head while playing with a pink gun that he and his 7-year-old sister thought was a toy. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/... 48. February 5, 2013: 5-year-old girl accidentally shot in the abdomen by father, who was loading his new gun. http://www.star-telegram.com/... 49. February 7, 2013: 18-year-old male accidentally shot himself while handling a gun at work. http://www.kfoxtv.com/... 50. February 8, 2013: 15-year-old boy accidentally shot three times by 16-year-old boy. http://www.wmctv.com/... 51. February 9, 2013: 3-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by mother’s boyfriend. http://www.wsiltv.com/... 52. February 9, 2013: 11-year-old and 14-year-old boys playing with gun in a home owned by a convicted felon prohibited from having a gun; one child is accidentally shot. http://www.wdtv.com/... 53. February 11, 2013: 4-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself while playing with a gun. http://www.knoxnews.com/... 54. February 12, 2013: 4-year-old girl accidentally shot herself with gun found in mother’s dresser drawer. http://www.wsoctv.com/... 55. February 15, 2013: 15-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself at a fight outside a Burger King. http://antiochherald.com/... 56. February 16, 2013: 16-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed when he and his 14-year-old brother were playing with a shotgun in their home. http://www.fayobserver.com/... 57. February 17, 2013: 18-year-old girl accidentally shot when a rifle discharged while she was changing a flat tire. http://www.ksl.com/... 58. February 18, 2013: 17-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself while handling a gun; files false report to hide what happened. http://www.lockhaven.com/... 59. February 18, 2013: 12-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed by a family member. http://www.hutchnews.com/... 60. February 19, 2013: 18-year-old girl accidentally shot in head by 3-year-old who found a gun under a mattress in the home. http://www.wmbb.com/... 61. February 19, 2013: 9-year-old boy accidentally shot in the head after he found his father’s gun and played with it; his younger sister tried to take it away from him and it discharged. http://www.dispatch.com/... 62. February 20, 2013: 14-month-old baby accidentally shot after another apartment resident, an active member of the Air Force, fired his gun and the bullet went through the wall and struck the baby. http://www.wtxl.com/... 63. February 20, 2013: 3-year-old boy accidentally shot in the head and killed at home; both parents and other small children were also home at the time. http://www.dallasnews.com/... 64. February 21, 2013: 12-year-old boy shot himself while hunting squirrels with his 10-year-old brother. http://weatherforddemocrat.com/... 65. February 21, 2013: 12-year-old accidentally shot while playing with a shotgun with a 16-year-old relative. http://www.abcnews4.com/... 66. February 22, 2013: 2-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the head at home. http://www.heraldstandard.com/... 67. February 22, 2013: 5-year-old boy accidentally shot himself or was shot by his 11-year-old brother, using his father’s gun. http://blogs.wsj.com/... 68. February 23, 2013: 3-year-old boy accidentally shot by his father while his father was cleaning his rifle. http://www.ksskradio.com/... 69. February 24, 2013: 13-year-old boy accidentally shot by his 13-year-old friend at the home of his friend’s godfather, who gave his godson unrestricted access to 8 guns to show his friends. http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/... 70. February 24, 2013: 9-year-old boy accidentally shot himself while out shooting with his grandfather. http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/... 71. February 24, 2013: 4-year-old boy shot and killed himself with stolen gun left out by father. http://www.chron.com/... 72. February 24, 2013: 15-year-old accidentally shot and killed while playing with guns with friends. http://silverpinyon.com/... 73. February 26, 2013: 17-year-old girl accidentally shot herself while unloading groceries; she dropped two handguns and one discharged, striking her. http://therecordlive.com/... 74. February 26, 2013: 10-year-old accidentally shot and killed by another juvenile. http://www.kten.com/... 75. February 27, 2013: 17-year-old girl accidentally shot herself outside her high school. http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/... 76. February 28, 2013: 15-year-old boy accidentally shot his 11-year-old brother while playing with gun. http://www.nola.com/... 77. March 1, 2013: 4-year-old boy accidentally shot by older brother while family was outside shooting. http://www.eparisextra.com/... 78. March 4, 2013: 4-year-old son of sheriff’s deputy accidentally shoots himself to death with father’s gun. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/... 79. March 4, 2013: 18-year-old male accidentally shot in head and killed while cleaning guns with friend. http://www.news-sentinel.com/... 80. March 4, 2013: 17-year-old male accidentally shot by family member with rifle. http://www.tidewaternews.com/... 81. March 5, 2013: 3-year old boy accidentally shot by stepfather, who tried to lie to authorities about how it happened. http://www.wect.com/... 82. March 7, 2013: 16-year-old boy accidentally shoots self in face. http://www.fox47news.com/... 83. March 7, 2013: 16-year-old fatally shot in face by 18-year-old while playing Russian roulette with friends. http://whtc.com/... 84. March 9, 2013: 14-year-old boy accidentally shot by friend playing with semiautomatic handgun. http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/... 85. March 9, 2013: 3-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself in the head with aunt’s gun after she leaves it in the bathroom. http://www.wsmv.com/... 86. March 10, 2013: 11-year-old boy accidentally shot by friends playing with gun. http://www.wave3.com/... 87. March 11, 2013: 16-year-old accidentally shot while cleaning out closet; shotgun discharged when he knocked it over and he tried to pull it out of the closet. http://blog.al.com/... 88. March 12, 2013: 3-year-old accidentally shot outside home. http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/... 89. March 13, 2013: 10-year-old boy accidentally shot in head and killed by 13-year-old brother while they were shooting BB guns. http://www.theledger.com/... 90. March 14, 2013: 4-year-old accidentally shot while playing with a gun in a car with a sibling. http://myfox8.com/... 91. March 14, 2013: 15-year-old accidentally shot at a party when he tried to disarm a drunk man with a shotgun. http://chickashanews.com/... 92. March 14, 2013: 16-year-old accidentally shoots himself while playing with gun. http://www.ksla.com/... 93. March 15, 2013: 10-month old baby accidentally shot and killed by his father, who was handling a semiautomatic handgun at the time. The baby was shot in the chest in front of his mother and his brothers, aged 2 and 3. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/... 94. March 18, 2013: 18-year-old male fatally shot himself in the face while cleaning his gun. http://tristatehomepage.com/... 95. March 18, 2013: 3-year-old accidentally shot himself with gun found in relative’s home. http://www.wthr.com/... 96. March 20, 2013: 4-year-old accidentally shot himself in the face with gun at his home. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/... 97. March 22, 2013: 17-year-old boy accidentally shot himself while walking down the street holding a gun. http://m.arkansasonline.com/... 98. March 26, 2013: 10-year-old accidentally shot and killed as he was watching TV. His father shot him in the head as he was cleaning his shotgun. http://www.fayobserver.com/... 99. March 28, 2013: 12-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by 16-year-old brother, who thought he was an intruder in their home. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/... 100. March 28, 2013: 11-year-old girl accidentally shot in head and killed by 11-year old boy handling a rifle owned by the girl’s 15-year-old brother. http://www.azfamily.com/... 101. March 29, 2013: 16-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself while playing with a gun with friends. http://www.commercialappeal.com/... 102. March 29, 2013: 13-year-old boy accidentally shot by his father, who was testing his gun by shooting it into the woods behind his house. http://www.wrcbtv.com/... 103. April 1, 2013: 4-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed by 6-year-old brother with gun found in car. http://www.miamiherald.com/... 104. April 1, 2013: 14-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself after he slipped while walking and fell on his gun. http://www.marshallnews.com/... 105. April 2, 2013: 3-year-old boy shoots himself with gun found under father's bed. http://www.reporternewspapers.net/... 106. April 2, 2013: 4-year-old boy accidentally shoots and kills himself after Easter services with gun found in relative's home. http://www.nydailynews.com/... 107. April 6, 2013: 16-year-old boy accidentally shot himself while cleaning gun. http://www.newsnet5.com/... 108. April 8, 2013: 4-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed by father cleaning gun. http://www.brownwoodnews.com/... 109. April 9, 2013: 4-year-old boy fatally shoots 6-year-old boy in head with rifle he got from his house. http://www.cnn.com/... 110. April 9, 2013: 3-year-old shoots and kills self after finding gun in home. http://www.wbtw.com/... 111. April 12, 2013: 3-year-old boy shoots self while reaching for gun under father's bed. http://news.cincinnati.com/... 112. April 13, 2013: 13-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed while playing with a gun with other children in an unsupervised home. http://www.news4jax.com/... 113. April 14, 2013, 7-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed while shooting a semiautomatic with his brothers and father. http://www.salina.com/... 114. April 15, 2013: 9-year-old girl shot in the face and killed when mother's boyfriend, a decorated Iraq War veteran, accidentally discharges his gun while practicing for his new job as a security guard. http://www.oregonlive.com/... 115. April 15, 2013: 6-year-old boy accidentally shoots self in church parking lot. http://www.kens5.com/... 116. April 15, 2013: 7-year-old girl accidentally shot in chest by 6-year-old cousin with gun found in bedside table. http://www.sunherald.com/... 117. April 16, 2013: 6-year-old girl accidentally shot by 14-year-old cousin in a chiropractor's office. http://www.kmbc.com/... 118. April 17, 2013: 16-year-old girl accidentally shot by 16-year-old boy in possession of illegal gun. http://www.thenewsstar.com/... 119. April 17, 2013: 16-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself with semiautomatic while showing it to friends. http://www.boston.com/... 120. April 17, 2013: Unsupervised 2-year-old accidentally shot self. http://blog.al.com/... 121. April 18, 2013: 8-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed. http://www.idahopress.com/... 122. April 18, 2013: 14-year-old boy accidentally shot with stolen gun. http://www.wtov9.com/... 123. April 22, 2013: 2-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in chest after he reached into father’s pocket for a gun and it discharged. http://www.wyff4.com/... 124. April 22, 2013: 4-year-old accidentally shot and killed at his home. http://www.nbcnews.com/... 125. April 23, 2013: 10-month-old boy accidentally shot by his 3-year-old sister with parents’ gun, which she found in the family car. http://www.idahostatesman.com/... 126. April 24, 2013: 7-year-old boy accidentally shot by his 11-year-old brother with gun hidden in their home by their grandfather, who found it outside and intended to turn it in to police. http://www.delawareonline.com/... 127. April 24, 2013: 10-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed in his living room while others were home. http://www.sunherald.com/... 128. April 26, 2013: 14-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by his 12-year-old brother, who then got other juveniles to help bury the body and lie about what happened to his brother. http://www.fox19.com/... 129. April 26, 2013: 10-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed by one of his juvenile siblings, after they found their father’s shotgun while playing in the garage. http://www.10tv.com/... 130. April 27, 2013: 4-year-old accidentally shot himself in his home with family gun, which father thought was locked up. http://www.nbc12.com/... 131. April 29, 2013: 14-year-old boy accidentally shot by his 15-year-old stepbrother with a revolver they found and played with. The 15-year-old disposed of the gun later and lied to police about how the shooting happened. http://abclocal.go.com/... 132. April 29, 2013: 6-year-old girl accidentally shot while playing with a gun with another small child. http://www.pnj.com/... 133. April 30, 2013: 14-year-old accidentally shot himself while trying to clear a malfunction in the semiautomatic handgun he was using for target practice. http://www.weau.com/... 134. April 30, 2013: 2-year-old girl accidentally shot to death by 5-year-old brother with child-size rifle given to brother as a gift. http://www.kentucky.com/... 135. April 30, 2013: 5-year-old girl accidentally shot to death by 8-year-old brother, who was playing with the rifle he had used the day before to go hunting. http://www.ktuu.com/... 136. May 2, 2013: 9-year-old girl accidentally shot by her 7-year-old brother with a rifle that had been kept in the closet of another sibling, who was not at home at the time. http://q13fox.com/... 137. May 3, 2013: 3-year-old boy fatally shoots himself in the face with his grandmother's gun while his mother and grandmother were in the other room. http://www.rawstory.com/... DAILY KOS News, Community, Action PEOPLE GROUPS DIARIES TAGS LABOR COMICS ELECTIONS ECON RADIO
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