State [Maryland] Worst In Gun Study

Baltimore Sun ^ | November 29, 2001 | Jonathan Bor

[Mercuria]

A child is more likely to commit homicide with a handgun or be a victim of it in Maryland than in any other state, according to a study issued yesterday. In its report, the nonprofit Violence Policy Center said Maryland leads the nation in the rate of children involved in handgun killings.

Louisiana and Illinois ranked second and third in rates of children killed in handgun violence and rates of children killing with guns.

[Mercuria]

VPC's "youths" include 14-to-17 year old boys (you know, people who are old enough to be taught CONDOM SAFETY in government school class?).

Now, check out THIS statistic:

Nationally, an average of two children a day were killed with handguns, and more children were killed with handguns than with all other weapons combined, the group found.

Ummmmm...hold it a minute...VPC has stated in the past that 13 children a day are killed by guns.

Handgun Control, Inc. used that number, too.

Even if that were the total considering every kind of gun...HOW IN THE WORLD did they ever come up with 13 a day by every kind of gun...with 2 handguns per day killing more children "than...all other weapons combined"?

Oh...it gets better, folks...

Karen Brock, author of the study, "Kids in the Line of Fire," acknowledged surprise at Maryland's rankings, noting that the state has some of the toughest handgun laws in the nation. She said Maryland's laws have targeted handgun sales but apparently have not sufficiently reduced the number of handguns in the homes.

What do handguns in the HOME have to do with kids who didn't get their guns from their dads in the first place?

'Fess up, VPC...your "children" are mostly comprised of YOUNG MEN who run rampant in the streets, who will not follow any gun control laws the government enacts upon the general populace!!

Here's an aspect of VPC's math that bears scrutiny:

Black gang members + guns + gun control = gun violence
Therefore:
Law-abiding black men + guns + gun freedom = MORE gun violence?

Ummmmm....just what EXACTLY are you trying to say, VPC?

**Hey...those are YOUR stats, remember...**

[Mercuria]

BUMP!

[Dan from Michigan]

I think Maryland has the worst gun laws in the country besides Connecticutt(with ther Turn in your neighbor policy).

Ya mean old Paris Glendining, and gun grabber J Joseph Curran(I think he's MD) are FAILURES at stopping violence involving people using firearms despite that?? Go figure.

[Dan from Michigan]

(you know, people who are old enough to be taught CONDOM SAFETY in government school class?).

I missed that. Too bad. I could have had a perfect pickup line when I was in high school.

[Cacophonous]

I have often contended, and have to be proved wrong, that Maryland is the second dumbest state in the union (I live in Baltimore), but they are constantly flirting with being the dumbest. The entire state owes a debt of gratitude to the state of New York for electing Hillary Clinton.

And they ought to throw me a parade everytime I cross the state line, or they would be the dumbest.

[xm177e2]

Even if that were the total considering every kind of gun...HOW IN THE WORLD did they ever come up with 13 a day by every kind of gun...with 2 handguns per day killing more children "than...all other weapons combined"?

Simple.

Of the thirteen, one was shot with a handgun in a drug deal gone bad, the other committed suicide with a pistol.

Number three was killed with a shotgun.

Four committed suicide with a semi-automatic rifle.

Five was accidentally shot with an "assault weapon."

Six was out hunting, and was shot by accident by another hunter using an Etron-X electronically fired rifle.

Seven was murdered with a sniper rifle.

Eight accidentally shot himself with a lever-action rifle.

Nine was gunned down by an MP5 submachine gun in a no-knock drug raid gone bad.

Ten accidentally shot his friend with a muzzleloading rifle.

Eleven was out hiking and wandered by accident into a military training range, and was eviscerated by a 40mm rifle grenade.

Twelve was "disappeared" by the GSG-9 because he was the youngest suspected member of al-Qaeda, he was eliminated with a G11-ACR firing 4.92x34mm caseless ammunition.

Thirteen was accidentally killed when an A-10 Thunderbolt (known commonly as the "Warthog") heading to Afghanistan lost an engine and fell out of the sky, the GAU autocannon landed on the poor girl's head, killing her instantly.

---

So there you have it: thirteen kids, 12 different kinds of guns. And this happens every day! Well, some days it's historical cannons, other days it's full auto machineguns, usually it's only about 8 kids killed a day by exotic weapons. But every few weeks, a howitzer shell takes out twenty or thirty of them at a time, which brings the average back up. And that's how they arrive at the 13/day figure.

[Brownie74]

Karen Brock, author of the study, "Kids in the Line of Fire," acknowledged surprise at Maryland's rankings, noting that the state has some of the toughest handgun laws in the nation.

I don't know what she is so suprised about. The majority of people have known this for years. When are these people going to learn that you can't legislate morality in the form of gun control laws.

It is the job of Mom and Dad to teach their kids gun safety - not the government!!

[Madame Dufarge]

Some are surprised by ranking, given toughness of laws

Isn't the constant repetition of the same mistake one of the hallmarks of insanity?

On the other hand, if one makes a living working at the Violence Policy Center, acknowledging the real cause of the violence would result in career suicide.

So the choices would be:

1) admit you're insane or

2) perpetuate the problem to keep those dollars rolling in, while asserting how much you deeply, deeply care. And, the Holy Grail for gun-grabbers, you can assume an air of moral superiority.

One thing is for sure, these people will never go away.

[marktwain]

Nahh.

The other 10.7 of the thirteen are suicides. .3 are accidents. VPC had a major foulup in their propaganda effort when they let this one through. Usually they are very careful to inflate their numbers with the suicides, and very careful to imply that all of the deaths are accidents.

This is very strange. Perhaps the person who did this study has some residual honesty.

[DC native]

You're from Baltimore? Hi HON! Ex-Marylander here. Taking my son to Baltimore today to have a look at Loyola. You forgot Massachusetts and DC (I know, not a state, by the grace of God). In my mind, these three form the holy trinity of pointy-headed cretinism. (Mmmmmmm.......Sabatino's here I come.)

[Aarchaeus]

Thanks for figuring this out. I had started wondering how the statistics worked out. Good to have this valuable info. I love seeing this kind of analysis.

[Brasky]

California has gotten bad. New Jersey is terrible, probably as bad as Massachusetts or Maryland overall. New York State is bad, but still better than Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and California. Connecticut is great compared to all of the above. .

Illinios (Chicago in particular) is right up there, too.

[Chemist_Geek]

So there you have it: thirteen kids, 12 different kinds of guns. And this happens every day! Well, some days it's historical cannons, other days it's full auto machineguns, usually it's only about 8 kids killed a day by exotic weapons. But every few weeks, a howitzer shell takes out twenty or thirty of them at a time, which brings the average back up. And that's how they arrive at the 13/day figure.

Don't forget that at least once a year, those Civil War re-enactors' flitlocks go wild and massacre some chillldrun.

Didn't some kid fall off of a memorial cannon and die, a few years back? There was one "gun death" right there...

[Tijeras_Slim]

As a former 30 year MD resident, I am continualy apalled by the stupidity rampant there. But to be fair it is concentrated in the suburban band running from PG through Montgomery and Howard Counties up to Baltimore. The majority of my family is on the Eastern Shore (and have been for several hundred years) and you better believe that its firmly in the red zone. Never should'a built that bridge tho'.

[Teacher317]

She said Maryland's laws have targeted handgun sales
but apparently have not sufficiently reduced the number of handguns in the homes.

It's a sad day when they can say, openly, that they have been working to to take away our guns...
and that their goal is to take away even more guns from our homes...
and most of the populace thinks nothing of it.

[Sgt_Schultze]

You described the counties heavily populated by liberals and government employees (I know, they're the same thing). Whoda thunk it?

[MissAmericanPie]

Thanks for the heads up, bookmarking this one.

[white trash redneck]

Nationally, an average of two children a day were killed with handguns, and more children were killed with handguns than with all other weapons combined, the group found. Ummmmm...hold it a minute...VPC has stated in the past that 13 children a day are killed by guns.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of petty minds. Don't bother the VPC with the facts. It will only confuse them.

[Native American Female Vet]

BUMP

[Colt .45]

These putzes also count the 17 to 19 age group as children. Thereby they can pad their figures to make them seem more plausible. Now if American's took the time to study the Justice Department findings, they would be able to see that VPC's Facts and figures are nothing more than bovine scatology with the essence of rose thrown on them.

That aside, we must continue to fight the subtle attempts to legitimize the attempted encroachments on the 2nd Amendment. The part where that bimbo Karen Brock says "Maryland's laws have targeted handgun sales but apparently have not sufficiently reduced the number of handguns in the homes." That statement leaves them the opening to try to push for a general confiscation of all guns from private law-abiding citizens. We gotta fight fire with fire.

[Travis McGee]

Baltimore, my home town, also leads or is near the top in the rate of heroin and crack addiction and STDs.

What makes anyone think that an ethnic minority which can't keep needles out their arms and their pants zipped gives a rip about gun laws or gun safety?

[yarddog]

A rough cause and effect case might be made that gun control causes crime. All three of these states contain major cities which probably account for the majority of the crime. All of these cities, Baltimore, Washington DC, Chicago and New Orleans all have draconian gun control laws.

Although gun control probably causes some of the problems the real reason is so obvious that a blind man could see it.

All of these cities contain very (extremely) high concentrations of Blacks. Everyone is afraid to admit that much, maybe most, of crime is in fact committed by a small percentage of the population. BTW it is not just that Blacks commit crime. Rural Blacks have a fairly low crime rate. (I know because I did a study on just that subject in grad school).

[Colt .45]

Here is an article that refutes the VPC's fact study(?).

'Violence Policy Center, Teens and Guns Second Amendment Sisters 12.01.01

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While the "Violence Policy Center" (VPC) name makes one think that they are concerned with all types of violence, a quick look at their website and the end of their mission statement reveals their true agenda, "The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury."

On Thursday November 29th it was reported on WBAL radio that Maryland, with it's strict gun control laws, had the highest "child handgun homicide rate" in the nation. It was reported that the VPC Spokeswoman was baffled by this statistic and stated, "This shows that there are too many guns in homes." Checking on this so-called study on their website, the VPC concludes that, "Until we limit the availability of handguns in the hands of both children and adults, this carnage will continue."

While we agree, the death of even one child, no matter the circumstances, is tragic, we must point out that the VPC constantly refers to "kids" in their "study". They do state that they include "kids" up to 17 yrs old. By using the word "kids" they are trying to form a picture in one's mind of an innocent 7 yr old playing in the yard. What they are really talking about is a vast majority of gang members killing other gang members, and teens committing suicide. Obviously, everyone is someone's child, but 15, 16, and 17 year old criminals are not "kids", they are criminals, involved it crimes, and taking the risks that go along with those crimes.

If the VPC were truly concerned with violence (as opposed to guns) they would have on their website, and make known, the following facts-

1. In 1996 there were only 21 accidental gun deaths for children under age15. Centers for Disease Control

2. EIGHT times as many children die from NON-GUN violent acts than from gun crimes. "Kids and Guns, 2000, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention."

3. 82% of homicides to children age 13 and under were committed WITHOUT a gun-1997. FBI Uniform Crime Statistics.

4. Four children die each day in the U.S. from parental neglect and abuse. National Center on Child Abuse Prevention, 1998 Annual Survey.

Second Amendment Sisters is dedicated to promoting and preserving the basic human right to self-defense, as recognized by the Second Amendment of the U. S. Constitution. Placing blame for society's ills on firearms ignores the larger, more complicated problems we face.

Guns in private hands are used about 2.5 million times each year to prevent crime, including rapes, aggravated assaults, and kidnapping-Gary Kleck, Criminologist, Florida State University. When the VPC proposes that, "...we limit the availability of handguns in the hands of both children and adults.", are they talking about guns (which protect people far more often than they are used to commit crime) or are they really talking about controlling the people who legally own guns? Also, why does the VPC continue to ignore the facts? What is it that the VPC really wants to accomplish? All good questions, which Second Amendment Sisters would like to get answered

------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------

But we won't get the answers because the VPC wants to take away our guns ... period!

[wku man]

ROFLMAO!

[LiberteeBell]

'Fess up, VPC...your "children" are mostly comprised of YOUNG MEN who run rampant in the streets, who will not follow any gun control laws the government enacts upon the general populace!!

This point needs to be made over and over again.

[blackie]

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed !!

An Armed Citizen, Is A Safe Citizen !!

No Guns, No Rights !!

Molon Labe !!

[HighWheeler]

Nice investigations Mercuria, and remember, they don't say who is shooting the "children", the sex of the victims, nor the circumstances leading up to the shooting. For instance, a police officer shooting in self defence, home owner in self defence, gang related, or drug related. Basically any criminal act leading up to the shooting vs. accidents.

But don't be so hard on them, Maryland just wants to disarm its citizens to ease the terrible burden on the young criminal from wondering if his intended victim will be armed and could shoot back. Its for the children, don't you know.

[junta]

The author of this article meant to say "utes."

[MileHi]

Thanks for keeping me on your bump list, Merc.

[AnnaZ]

EXCELLENT post, m'love.

 

BUMPTTT!

[Doctor Doom]

Ten accidentally shot his friend with a muzzleloading rifle.

I can't have my first cocktail of the day until I hear news of the daily black-powder musket child shooting.