CDC: Fewer kids dying from accidental gunfire

According to the latest numbers from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, fewer children are dying
from unintentional gunfire.

In 2009, the CDC reports 96 children under the age of 18
were killed by accidental gunfire nationwide. The number
has been trending downward since 2006, when there were 125
deaths.

In Washington state, where two children have been
accidentally shot to death in the past week, the average
number of kids under 18 who die each year from unintended
gunfire is one.

On Saturday, a 7-year-old girl was shot to death by her
sibling inside a van in Stanwood, Wash. Her father, a
Marysville police officer, had left a loaded firearm in
the glove compartment of the family van.

On Monday in Tacoma, a 3-year-old boy shot and killed
himself with a gun he found in the family car while it was
stopped at a gas station.

The last time two kids were killed from accidental gunfire
in this state in the same year was 2006.

According to the Washington State Department of Health,
there are an average of nine children under the age of 18
hospitalized each year due to unintentional gunfire.

An 8-year-old girl remains hospitalized after she was
critically injured at a Bremerton, Wash. elementary school
in February when a 9-year-old classmate brought a handgun
in his backpack. The gun accidentally discharged.