Everytown, a non-profit organization in the USA that advocates gun safety and control, reports that 265 people under 18 years old held a firearm and accidentally shot themselves or other people in the year 2015. That is equal to an average of five accidental shootings by children every week.
Of the 265 accidental shootings by children, 41 caused the death of the underage shooter while 42 caused the deaths of other people for a total of 83 fatalities. These figures only include accidental shootings by children and not homicides or suicides committed by teens or children.
According to the research, 148 of the accidental shootings by children in 2015 happen at the underage shooter's own house, 28 happened at a family member or relative's house, and 31 happened at a friend's house for a total of 207 accidental shootings by children at home in 2015.
A recent tragedy back on Dec. 28, 2015, reported by Alaska Dispatch News involved a boy who accidentally shot himself with his father's gun. The boy was identified as William Anderson, a 4-year-old son of an Alaska state trooper. The boy somehow picked up his father's gun and fatally shot himself while playing inside their house.
"This is the first attempt at making an account at this scale and this degree, and we as an organization started doing it this year," told the research director of Everytown, Ted Alcorn, in an interview with the Washington Post.
Parents are advised to make sure that their children are kept away from all kinds of firearms by safely and properly storing the weapons. It might also be wise to talk about possession and proper storage of guns and other firearms to the owners and residents of houses the children are visiting to prevent any untoward incident.
