Arizona refuses to deal with the biggest killer of its teens
Arizona refuses to deal with the biggest killer of its teens | Opinion Republicans would rather introduce bills tormenting transgender students to appease Donald Trump than fix the increase in teenage gun deaths.
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Gun purchase waiting periods and other laws reduce youth gun deaths
Certain gun laws, including safe storage and mandatory waiting periods, reduce firearm-related suicides among youth.
Firearms were the leading cause of death for Arizona teenagers in 2023.
Arizona does not have a law requiring safe storage of firearms.
Polls show that most Americans support stricter gun laws, but GOP lawmakers don't care.
Late last year, before the Legislature's current session, a report came out listing the leading cause of preventable death among Arizona teenagers, an unnecessary tragedy lawmakers could have made a priority.
But, because Republicans control the Legislature, and because Donald Trump is president, they ignore the problem.
And kids die.
The annual Arizona Child Fatality Review report found that firearms were the leading cause of deaths among young people between 15 and 17, and the second-most preventable deaths among all children, behind car crashes.
Sixty-eight Arizona kids died by firearms in 2023, adding to what has been a 170% increase over the past 10 years.
Instead of dealing with that sad fact, we get attacks on transgender school kids, both in the Arizona Legislature and from Trump.
What kills the most kids gets the least attention
It is a cold, simple strategy of putting politics over lives.
Diversity, equity and inclusion programs are not killing Arizona kids. Guns are.
Taxes on tips don't kill young people, bullets do. But lawmakers here fixate over whether there should be an exemption for tips, and for how much, rather than Arizona's childhood gun deaths.
Some Republicans want to make it illegal for panhandlers to solicit on road medians rather than work to keep weapons out of the hands of young people.
One GOP state senator wants to make it illegal for public universities and colleges to prohibit concealed carry weapons on campus.
Safe-storage laws save lives. Arizona lacks one
An article published by the Arizona Public Health Association noted an expansive RAND Corporation report that said, 'CAP (Child Access Prevention) laws, or safe-storage laws, reduce self-inflicted fatal or nonfatal firearm injuries, unintentional firearm injuries and deaths, and firearm homicides among youth.'
As Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, has pointed out, 'One of the characteristics of an older teen is their brains are still forming. They can be really impetuous and not think things through.'
Opinion: Gun-friendly lawmaker makes case for gun control
Arizona, unlike many other states, does not have a law requiring an owner to secure an unattended firearm.
If anything, the Republicans who control the Legislature continually work to make firearms even more accessible.
Americans want better gun laws, polls show
Again, like Trump, who has issued an executive order seeking to eliminate some of the minor commonsense regulations made during President Joe Biden's term.
Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, founder of the national gun violence prevention organization GIFFORDS, issued a statement after Trump's order, saying in part, 'Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens in America — we cannot make it easier for guns to fall into dangerous hands … . The safety of our families, our children, our schools, and our communities is not a partisan issue.'
Polls consistently show that roughly 60% of Americans favor stricter gun laws.
Republicans here are more fixated on bills about the bathrooms in our schools, however, not noticing (or caring) that because of gun violence, fewer kids are in attendance.
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
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