Can children and guns coexist in the home?

• Author: Schoolfield, Susan H.

THE STATISTICS are astounding. In 1991 alone, 3,247 children and teenagers were murdered and 1,436 committed suicide with guns, and 551 died in unintentional shootings, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Gun mishaps were the fifth-leading cause of accidental death in 1992 for children aged 14 and under, reports the National Safety Council. Firearms are too readily accessible and youngsters are finding them and killing or wounding themselves and others.

These tragedies have become so common that support groups are springing up around the country such as Zero Accidental Killings (ZAK)-Texans for Gun Safety and Gun Responsibility in Every Family (GRIEF). ZAK was created in direct response to the unprecedented and disturbing number of children killed or injured by guns. The founding directors, Dianne Clements and Paula Reyes, are mothers whose sons were casualties of accidental firearm discharges. Both boys were playing with children when shot by another youngster. In each case, the weapons were loaded and left easily accessible.

A 1991 Gallup Poll indicated that 46% of adults surveyed had a gun in their home. Of those who possessed weapons, 47% owned handguns and approximately 46% of them reported that they kept their guns loaded at all times. Demographics indicate that today's gun buyer generally is a 28-to-42-year-old male, with a college education and children, who feels he is purchasing protection.

Parents go to great lengths to install safety locks on cabinets and drawers containing dangerous knives or cleaning supplies, and the nation has seen the emergence of the child-proof aspirin bottle and other secure medicine containers. Yet, Americans have failed to protect their children from one of the most lethal items in the home--firearms.

Whether an advocate of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence (CPHV) or a supporter of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about guns in the hands of children. The issue has come too close to home.

Statistics quoted by the CPHV indicate, for example, that in 1990, the U.S. had the highest death rate for teenagers killed by guns than for any year since records were kept--4,200 youths aged 15-19 were slain with firearms. Not all of these were due to accidental discharges, but many were. In an opposing view, the NRA claims that firearm-related fatalities actually have decreased over the past 50 years by 67%.

Historically, it is difficult to...