Sick and Sickening

American kids have far too easy access to guns | Sadhbh Walshe | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "Last week, a five-year-old boy in Kentucky shot his two-year-old sister to death with a loaded rifle that had been left in the family living room. Although accidental shootings of a child by a child using loaded guns found in their family homes are far from uncommon, this particular incident seemed to capture the public's imagination, probably because the rifle the boy used to accidentally kill his sister was his very own "first rifle" designed specifically for use by small children and bought for him by his parents.

It came as a bit of a surprise to me to learn that parents are knowingly and willingly buying firearms for their own children and even more of a surprise that it's apparently legally OK for gun manufacturers to design and market weapons to children. We have strict laws in place that prevent us from giving our five-year-old the car keys so he can drive himself to school, but not to stop us giving the same child a loaded gun to play with?"

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