by The Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence (sic) has started a campaign called “Asking Saves Kids”. They are encouraging parents to ask other parents if there is an unlocked firearm in their house. The Brady Campaign alleges that thousands of children are killed annually.
From their web text that they are suggesting supporters use:
In America, one out of three homes with children has a gun, many kept unlocked or loaded. Every year thousands of kids are killed and injured as a result.
When one examines the CDC’s National Vital Statistics Report – Deaths: Final Data for 2010, which tracks mortality and the cause of it, we see that 62 children under the age of 15 died as a result of an accidental (negligent) discharge of a firearm. Thus, the Brady’s claim that “every year thousands of kids are killed” is an outright lie. See Table 10 on Page 40 for the confirmation of this.
As part of their campaign, the Brady Campaign has been releasing a series of YouTube videos and PSA videos. The one below is called “Conversations” and talks about awkward conversations. It tells parents to ask if there is an unlocked gun before letting their children go over to play.
I can suggest a better question to ask before letting little Jimmy go over to play with little Billy and Bobby.
Have your children been through the Eddie Eagle Program? If not, why not? Unlike anything put out by the so-called “gun safety” (sic) groups, it is a proven, award-winning program that has been shown to be effective in reducing accidental deaths of children with a firearm.
The bottom line is that locks can be defeated. Proper training like the Eddie Eagle program will help protect kids, locks or no locks.
That it can, and I've run both daughters and grandson through it…
Asking about unlocked guns specifically doesn't sound harmful at all.
That said, it's not any kind of substitute for teaching your kids what to do with guns, specifically, not to touch guns when they're young, and how to clear guns when they're older.
To be fair, they say "killed and injured". I don't know where to get the numbers for that, though.
Eddie Eagle should be taught in schools, just like "Stop, Drop, and Roll," and Stranger Danger.
I think my question would be to the parents: "do you know how to properly use a gun in case something bad happens?" I would never let my kids play in a house where the parents don't know how to protect kids properly!
Ask your neighbors if they have guns. They're reluctant to tell the government for some reason.