Water kills more kids than guns
August 8, 2000
By GORDON DILLOW
The Orange
County Register
The California Legislature is currently debating a bill that
would require handgun owners to be licensed by the state.
And amid the debate over Assembly Bill 273, you can be sure
there will be claims that burdening law-abiding gun owners
with more regulations is necessary to “protect our children”
from gun violence.
But if you look at the statistics in Orange County, it’s
pretty clear that there’s something else out there that
poses a far greater danger to kids than guns do.
It’s called water.
So far this year, 18 people have drowned in Orange County -
10 in swimming pools, eight in the ocean. Some of the deaths
were the result of plain bad luck, while others, it must be
said, were caused by the victim’s own poor decisions:
ignoring riptide warnings, jumping into a pool without
knowing how to swim and so on.
But the really tragic part is that four of the people who
drowned in Orange County this year were children 6 years old
or younger, all of whom lost their lives in swimming pools.
Now let’s take a look at the number of gun-related deaths in
Orange County.
According to the Orange County Coroner’s Office, so far this
year there have been exactly zero accidental deaths
involving firearms in the county. That’s right, zero. Out of
millions of people and hundreds of thousands of gun owners
in the county, not one person of any age has been
accidentally killed by a firearm.
And even when you look at gun-related homicides, it’s still
clear that in Orange County water is at least as deadly as
guns – and even more deadly for young children.
According to the coroner’s office, so far this year there
have been 17 confirmed homicides in the county that involved
firearms – one less than the number of drownings. And of
those firearm deaths, how many were children under 6?
Again, the answer is none. In fact, only three gun-homicide
victims in Orange County so far this year were 18 or under,
with the youngest being 16 – and he was allegedly shot by an
ex-con who was already violating a host of gun-control laws
by having a firearm in his possession.
As for suicides involving young people and firearms, so far
in Orange County this year there have been two – one a
14-year-old, one a 17-year-old. It’s a terrible thing, to be
sure, but still a much-lower death toll than from drownings.
Now, I know that some people will say I’m mixing apples and
oranges here – and maybe in some ways that’s true. Others
will say that I’m using the dead bodies of young drowning
victims to make a political point – which in a sense I am,
and which I regret.
But facts are facts. And the fact is that, while guns are
dangerous when they’re misused, so are swimming pools and
trips to the beach. But how many people would want to have
to get a license from the state to take their kids swimming?
So yes, we should be careful with our guns. We should use
and store them responsibly. If we own guns and there are
kids around, we should take extra steps to ensure that the
kids won’t get hurt.
But people who really care about saving young lives should
do the same with their water.
And they shouldn’t need a license to do it.
Gordon Dillow may be reached at (714) 796-7953 or by e-mail
at
[email protected]