GUN VIOLENCE
(FACTS FOR PARENTS)
As a parent you take many precautions to protect your children and teenagers. You make sure to lock away dangerous chemicals, prescription drugs and sharp objects. You tell your young children not to talk to strangers and not to associate with kids who are breaking the law or taking drugs. You provide guidance to your teens as they face the social pressures and risks associated with driving, dating, parties and young adulthood.
Similar care and attention are needed to keep your children and teens safe from handgun violence.
OUR NATION’S CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING FROM GUNSHOT INJURY AND DEATH AS NEVER BEFORE.
DID YOU KNOW?
* One out of eight children who die before the age of 21, die from gunshot wounds.
* On average, six children and teens die each day in gun homicides.
* It is more likely that a teenage boy will die because he is shot than from any natural cause.
* Unintentional shootings between children are the fifth leading cause of accidental death for children ages 0 to 14.
* Every six hours an American teenager commits suicide with a handgun.
* An estimated 25 million American households contain handguns. When polled, half of handgun owners reported that they keep their handguns loaded and unlocked at home.
* According to media reports, nearly 40% of the children who are accidentally shot by other children were shot with guns left loaded and unlocked in the homes of friends or relatives.
* Across the country, hundreds of thousands of secondary school students say they carry a gun to school daily. Often students get guns from home, without parental knowledge.
PLEASE TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT GUNS AND GUN VIOLENCE, AND KEEP GUNS LOCKED AWAY FROM YOUR CHILDREN AND ASK ADULTS AT THE PLACES YOUR CHILDREN VISIT TO DO THE SAME.
