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Dick Storey
Hello Bob,
Well, I thought my comment would draw more than a couple of refutations.
I have three questions. Do you think your justifications would ease the pain and suffering of people in Maine? And elsewhere? Do you take your arguments as sufficient to permit such terrible events to continue to befall our great country? Is your thesis mostly out of the NRA playbook and the association’s fear campaign?
In the spirit of civility, with no supplementary comment, I offer the following material.
1) Firearms are the Leading Cause of Death for Children in the United States But Rank No Higher Than Fifth in Other Industrialized Nations. 
Guns – including accidental deaths, suicides, and homicides – killed 4,357 children (ages 1-19 years old) in the United States in 2020, or roughly 5.6 per 100,000 children. (more in 2022)
KFF-The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
https://www.kff.org/health-reform/press-release/firearms-are-the-leading-cause-of-death-for-children-in-the-united-states-but-rank-no-higher-than-fifth-in-other-industrialized-nations/
2) Americans’ Experiences With Gun-Related Violence, Injuries, And Deaths (KFF)
Shannon Schumacher, Ashley Kirzinger, Marley Presiado, Isabelle Valdes, and Mollyann Brodie
Figure 1
More Than Half Of U.S. Adults Have Experienced A Gun-Related Incident, Including One In Five Who Have Personally Been Threatened With A Gun Or Had A Family Member Who Has Been Killed By A Gun.
Bar chart showing (see KFF website) the percent of adults who have experienced gun-related incidents broken down by type of incident, percent of adults who have a family member who has experienced gun-related incidents broken down by type, and the percent of adults who have, or a family member has, experienced at least one of the specific above gun-related incidents.
(Note:chart did not copy well)
Have you personally ever…?
Been threatened with a gun
21%
Witnessed someone being injured from a gun
17%
Been injured by a gun
4%
Shot a gun in self-defense
4%
Do you have a family member who has ever…?
Been threatened with a gun
31%
Witnessed someone being injured from a gun
28%
Been injured by a gun
20%
Been killed by a gun, including death by suicide
19%
They have, or a family member has, ever experienced at least one of these gun-related incidents
54%
SOURCE: KFF Health Tracking Poll (March 14-23, 2023)
3) Injuries from firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens. (CHE Aug 2023)
In 2020, firearms surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for children and teens. Deaths due to firearm-related injuries — including death by homicide, suicide, or accident — were around 20% of all child and teen deaths in 2020 and 2021, the largest proportion in at least four decades.
4) Children are dying at the highest rate in 13 years. (USA Facts)
In 2020, firearms surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for children and teens. Deaths due to firearm-related injuries — including death by homicide, suicide, or accident — were around 20% of all child and teen deaths in 2020 and 2021, the largest proportion in at least four decades.
The share of children and teens who die each year declined for nearly three decades and leveled off in the 2010s. Then, in 2020, the rate began to increase. By 2021, it reached its highest rate since 2008.
Although this coincided with the pandemic, the virus itself accounted for a small share of the increase. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the growing childhood death rates between 2019 and 2021 were primarily due to firearm injuries, drug overdoses, and car accidents. (see chart at https://usafacts.org/data-projects/child-death)
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