Pools more dangerous than guns for Kern County kids

August 27, 8:04 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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Courtesy Oleg Volk, A Human Right

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I love the Kern River. I've probably driven there a hundred times or more over the past 20 years. But it can be a dangerous place for the young, the inexperienced, the careless, as evidenced by a sign warning of lives lost just before you enter the gorge en route to Lake Isabella from Bakersfield.

Which makes this Bakersfield.com report even more sobering:

Pools now claiming more victims than Kern River...

So far this year there have been seven drownings in pools compared to just four in the river...

So far, five local children under the age of 10 have drowned this year.

Compare this to the Kern County Child Death Review Team 2006 Report, the most recent year for which I could find statistics, for "child gun deaths."

For ages one to 17, there were three "gunshot" homicides and one "gunshot" accident out of a total of 38 deaths.

Now consider this report from KGET.com:

Homicides are on a record pace in Kern County, and police think they know why -- a deadly new strategy by gang members to murder turf rivals. There may be more than a hundred homicides this year.

Any guesses where the juvenile homicides in the county report are coming from? Who seriously thinks disarming you and me is the solution to stopping the violence?

But let's jump back in the pool. Let's listen to Bakersfield Fire Chief Ron Fraze. He recommends you watch your kids. And he shares wisdom:

Swimming lessons are a better safety device, he said.

Exactly. Knowledge is the key to safe practices. Ignorance leads to tragedy.

Provide age-appropriate gun training to those in your care. To borrow a phrase from those who would be horrified by the prospect, do it for the children.

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Gun Rights Examiner on Andy Caldwell Show

I've been invited back. I'll be on the Andy Caldwell Show (KINF AM 1440, Central Coast, CA) later today to discuss, among other things, New Jersey's one-gun-a-month bill and ACORN's role in using tax money to stump for citizen disarmament.

If you don't live where you can get pick up the station's signal, you can click on the banner here for live stream access. We're pre-recording my segment this afternoon and it will air at 4:00 pm PST, so adjust accordingly for your time zone if you'd like to listen in.

Also see: Will N.J. 'one gun a month' bill stop the violence?