[Yorick]

Originally posted by MagiK: As I said, why are you picking on this nation when there are places, states, and nations that are comitting truly horrible attrocities on large scale numbers of citizens.

1.Because I've chosen to live here

2.I care about this country, and have grown to love it and it's inhabitants.

3.What happens in this country affects much of the planet Earth.

America is not an island. while in Australia, I knew Bush would affect my life, but I could not vote against him. Americas policies on the environment will affect all of us. The prevalence of CV ownership in America will adversely affect the rest of the world (who don't have anywhere near the level of CV ownership). The messages portrayed in the American media, reach much of the world.

Anti-Americanism? It started as self criticism within the American media. When you ridicule your President in the media, the world sees and scorns either your President, or those that ridicule him.

I'd say this is of vital importance to America at this time.

4.Gun related deaths in America IS a horrible atrocity on a large scale..


The latest data provides us with a picture of gun deaths among children and youth in the United States in 1998. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics is the source of the data on children and youth gun violence. Calculations were made by Children's Defense Fund (CDF). CDF's figures for total firearm deaths and homicide firearm deaths exclude firearm deaths by legal (police or corrections) intervention and deaths by air rifles.■

3,761 children and teens were killed by gunfire, nearly 10 lives every day, one every two and one half hours. (3,792 without exclusions)■

2,184 were murdered by gunfire. Fifty-eight percent of young people killed by gunfire are victims of homicide. (2,215 without exclusions)■

1,241 committed suicide using a gun - more than three every day. Guns remain the most common method of suicide for children. Guns are used in two out of three youth suicides. Thirty-three percent of young people killed by guns take their own lives.■

262 died from an unintentional or accidental shooting. Seven percent of young people were victims of an accidental shooting. A study reported in the American Journal of Public Health found that 1.4 million homes with 2.6 million children living in them had firearms that were stored unlocked and loaded or unlocked and unloaded but stored with ammunition.■

74 died with intent undetermined.■

609 of the young people killed were under the age of 15; 179 were under the age of 10; and 83 were under the age of 5.■

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of firearm deaths among American children under age 15 is almost 12 times higher than in 25 other industrialized countries combined.■

Gun homicide is the third leading cause of death for all young people ages 5 to14, and the leading cause of death among Black youths ages, 15 to 24.■

Between 1979 and 1998, 563 American military personnel were killed by hostile action. During that same period, 2,042 children under age 5 were killed by firearms, almost four times as many.
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Total Gun Deaths As Compiled by Million Mom March. No exclusions are made in this analysis. Data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 48, No. 11, July 24, 2000.

There were a total of 30,708 people killed by guns in the U.S. in 1998. Of these:
* 17,424 were gun suicides.

* 12,102 were gun homicides.

* 886 were unintentional or "accidental" shootings.

* 316 were shooting deaths of undetermined intent
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Additional Data

* In 1997 firearm injuries were the second leading cause of death by injury for all ages and for young people aged 15-24. Motor vehicle injuries were the leading cause of death by injury for all ages and for young people 15-24 years of age. [source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics 1997 data]

* Most families that own guns store them loaded, unlocked, or both. [Senturia, Y.D., Christoffel, K.K. et al. Gun storage patterns in U.S. homes with children: A pediatric-based survey, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 50, March 1996:265-269]

* The risk of suicide or homicide is twice as high for individuals with a family history of registered handgun purchase than for those without such a history. [source: Cummings, P. et al. The Association between the purchase of a handgun and homicide or suicide. AJPH, 87(6) June 1997:974-978]

* Suicide is nearly 5 times more likely to occur in a household with a gun than in a household without a gun. [source: Kellermann, A.L. et al. Suicide in the home in relation to gun ownership. N Engl J Med, 327(7)) Aug. 12, 1992:467-472.]

* The presence of a gun in the home triples the risk of homicide in the home. [source: Kellermann, A.L. et al. Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home. N Engl J Med 329 (15) October 7, 1993: 1084-1091

* Guns were used in approximately 7 out of 10 murders in the U.S. in 1997. Handguns were used in 53% of all murders and in 78% of all murders committed with a firearm. [source: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States, 1997, Washington, DC: Department of Justice. P. 20]

* One-quarter of adults in the United States own a gun and only about one in six Americans (16%) owns a hand gun. [Diaz, T. Making a killing: the business of guns in America. New York: New York Press, 1999.}

It's a problem warranting attention MagiK.