As gun regulation returns again to the fore of debate among U.S. citizens and lawmakers, the case of a South Carolina toddler accidentally shooting his grandmother in a car this week prompted a Washington Post reporter to discover a shocking reality: shooting incidents involving toddlers are happening on a weekly basis this year.
After scouring reports from around the country, Christopher Ingraham found at least 43 instances in which toddlers — defined as children between 1-3 years old — picked up a gun and shot either themselves or another person. The shootings in 2015 have spanned 24 states, with a high of five incidents in Missouri, according to the report.
Among the 43 incidents, 13 toddlers have inadvertently killed themselves, 18 have injured themselves, 10 have injured other people and two have killed other people. Based on the review, boys were far more likely to be involved than girls, who only showed up in three of the reports.
In Pennsylvania, there have been two cases reported in the media this year. In March, a two-year-old boy in Montoursville picked up an unattended .45-caliber handgun in his home and shot himself in the leg. The bullet traveled through his leg and lodged in his back, requiring at least one surgery. Three months later, in York City, a mother was hospitalized after her 3-year-old son found a gun inside their home and shot her in the foot.
While most reports of this kind are referred to as accidents, the article notes the conclusion reached by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, which estimates more than two-thirds of these shootings could be prevented if gun owners stored their guns responsibly.
Legislative solutions requiring guns to be locked up at home have the support of 67 percent of Americans, according to a study by The New England Journal of Medicine. Smart gun technology could also prevent these tragedies by keeping anyone other than the gun owner from using their weapon, but both policies are strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association, whose philosophy dictates that normalizing guns in public and private life are the best ways to protect rights and limit the extent of violent acts.
Read more at The Washington Post.