The Winter 2000 Update
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Guns & Kids

13 children die each day from gunfire in the U.S; in 1997 86% of all child gun deaths took place in the U.S; Gunshots are now the leading cause of death in teenage boys
"Our children have a right to die of old age."  A. Starke NYT Letters 10/10/99
52% of teen-agers polled said they thought a Columbine style attack could strike their school despite new security measures...
"I'm not saying it it couldn't happen.  It's just that if I'm afraid all the time, what is my life worth?"  B. Montgomery. 17 year od senior in Wytheville Va. NYT 10/20/99
All 42,000 students in the Texas Pasadena School District are required to use clear plastic book bags.
"The kids are still traumatized.  They hear a loud noise, and everyone jumps."  C. Michalik, mother of student at Columbine
"Lately there has been a growing chorus of voices calling for the removal of guns from our society, but to protect our children from crazed gunmen, more guns in the right hands is the only answer."  T. Law, Columbus Dispatch Letters 12/16/99 proposing that "with  an unspecified number of school staff members carrying concealed weapons... the chance of a shooter killing a large number of people is greatly reduced."  Note:  not killing people, but killing "a large number."
On May 11, 1998 Kip Kinkel, shot his parents and then took a rifle and 2 pistols to his school in Springfield, Oregon and open fire in a crowded cafeteria in Springfield Oregon, , killing 2 and wounding 25 others... Although he showed few warning signs to adults his  classmates voted him "Most Likely to Start World War III.  He also hid that he was hearing voices in his head and stockpiled guns and explosives because he was afraid the Chinese Army was going to invade.
"He comes from a really good family." Classmate of a 7th grade boy who fired a 9 millimeter semiautomatic hand gun in Fort Gibson Middle School Oklahoma on 12/6/99
"One in 10 college students and one in 5 high school students seriously considered suicide in the last year... And in the debate about guns, often overlooked is the fact that firearms are more often used in suicides than homicides."  Newsweek 10/11/99
"We're only as safe as our most unstable child."  Principal O. Zempel, Conrad, Montana
Only 4 countries besides the United States permit death sentences for youths:  Iran, Pakistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.  U.S has executed more youth offenders, 19, since 1990... more than the rest of the world combined.  70 are on death row.  "Maybe we have the world's most dangerous children.  Or maybe we just have the world's most violent adults."  T. Teepen  11/17/99
"Let me tell you this much, they have no clue.  So don't blame them and arrest them for what we did.  Thank God my mother never searched my room."  Eric Harris, Columbine teenage gunman about the arsenal of guns, bombs and ammunition he concealed in his room.
The 2 hours of video tapes he and his accomplice Dylan Klebold made before their massacre show two boys who could no longer cope with everyday life..., they apologized to their parents (quoting Shakespeare "Good wombs have borne bad sons"); talked of paybacks ("If you could see all the anger I've stored over the past 4 years,") and how their act would "kick-start a revolution."  The last tape made just minutes before the shooting Harris said "To everyone I love, I'm really sorry about all this," and Klebold adds "Just know we are going to a better place,"
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