'Guns don't kill kids';kids kill themselves and each other

From my good buddies, The Gun Guys:

Sad results from a study released by Pediatrics online journal (as seen in USA Today. )

About 1.7 million U.S. children live in homes with unlocked, loaded firearms. Only 18 states have laws requiring proper storage to limit access by children to the firearms, and of those, only 7 make it a felony to give minors access to weapons. Clearly, more children have more access to firearms than ever, and there are no laws either on the books or in the legislation in over 30 states in the country to protect children from firearms.

And the Pedatrics report says there are already consquences to this widespread danger. Of 1,400 children and teens who were killed in 2002, 90% of them were at home when it happened. The NRA preaches "responsible gun ownership," but the truth is that no matter what steps you take or what procedures you follow, having a gun in your home is statistically dangerous to any children in the same house. Heck, it's just plain dangerous to anyone you have around, young or old.

How can we keep guns out of kids' hands? Two studies have already shown how: states with laws in place to prevent firearm access by minors see accidental deaths and teen suicides decline. Period. If we keep guns away from children, we'll save their lives.

USA Today even has a soundbite from an NRA spokesman. "No one can legislate responsibility," he says. Which is true-- no law or amount of laws can make anyone do the right thing. They can only ensure that there are consequences to doing the wrong thing. But we can pass laws that keep guns out of the homes of children. And why shouldn't we? We already fight to keep guns off of school property, where kids spend half their day. And where do they spend the other half?

At home. The other place guns don't belong.