There's a lot more people today, and population centers are large. An idiot can do a lot of damage. And they do. A young man plays around at a party and accidentally shoots a girl across the room in the neck killing her. A kid plays with dad's pistol and shots a brother, sister, random neighbor kid. On a hunting trip, someone accidentally shots someone in the face. This stuff happens regular enough.
Facts:
WASHINGTON — Between 2006 and 2010, 561 children age 12 and under were killed by firearms, according to the FBI’s most recent Uniform Crime Reports.
The numbers each year have been consistent: 120, 115, 116, 114, and 96 in 2010. The FBI’s count does not include gun-related child deaths that authorities have ruled accidental.
‘‘This happens on way too regular a basis and it affects families and communities — not at once, so we don’t see it and we don’t understand it as part of our national experience,’’ said Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.
Gunfire kills young children daily in US - Nation - The Boston Globe
For every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides.
Injuries and deaths due to firearms in the home. [J Trauma. 1998] - PubMed - NCBI
The 3,385 firearms-related deaths for age group 0-19 years breaks down to:Four teen boys
214 unintentional
1,078 suicides
1,990 homicides
83 for which the intent could not be determined
20 due to legal intervention
Of the total firearms-related deaths:
73 were of children under five years old
416 were children 5-14 years old
2,896 were 15-19 years old
Gun Safety for Kids and Youth: Your Child: University of Michigan Health System
Consequences.