Guns, Gangs, and Preschools - Moving beyond Conventional SOlutions to Confront Juvenile Violence
![handle is hein.journals/barry1 and id is 67 raw text is: Guns, Gangs, and Preschools:
Moving Beyond Conventional Solutions to Confront
Juvenile Violence
David B. Kopel
The evidence of a national crisis involving children and guns seems over-
whelming:
* Nearly 16 children a day died in 1997 as a result of a firearms homicide,
suicide or unintentional shooting.'1
* Firearms are responsible for the deaths of 45,000 infants, children and
adolescents per year.,2
More than 135,000 children carry a gun to school every day.3
[A]n estimated 270,000 guns are brought to school each day in this coun-
try.4
These statistics are horrifying. Fortunately, they are all false. The correct sta-
tistics are presented later in this article. Unfortunately, the misleading factoids
about children and guns invented by interest groups have distracted attention
from the real, and terrible, problem of children and guns: namely the extremely
high homicide rate of inner-city minority male teenagers. This article attempts to
save lives by offering accurate information about these tragic deaths, and by pre-
senting tested, effective solutions.
Part I of this article provides the factual foundation for serious inquiry into the
problem of children and guns. It debunks various factoids, identifies the heart of
the real problem, and explains why some teenagers-faced with very serious
threats of criminal attack-sometimes carry firearms for protection.
I. Character Counts, Statistics on Youth & Violence (visited 6/5/00) <http://www.charactercounts.org/
rskstats.htm> citing Nat. Center Health Stat. 1998.
2. Marc B. Goldstein, How Guns Don't Kill But They Sure Make It Easier, HARTFORD COURANT, July
5, 1992, at 14, quoted in DAVID B. KOPEL, GUNS: WHO SHOULD HAVE THEM? 309 (1995).
3. Ceasefire, Inc., Mission Statement, (visited 3/17/00) http://www.ceasefire.org/html/pec2a.html>.
4. Margaret A. Hamburg, Youth Violence in a Public Health Concern, in VIOLENCE IN AMERICAN
SCHOOLS 47 (Delbert S. Elliot et al. eds.,1998), citing DELBERT S. ELLIOT, YOUTH VIOLENCE: AN OVERVIEW
(Univ. of Colo. Center for the Study & Prevention of Violence) (1994).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/barry1&div=6&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Guns, Gangs, and Preschools - Moving beyond Conventional SOlutions to Confront Juvenile Violence
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