The United States is currently facing a new epidemic. It hasn't come from South Africa, and you can't run to the doctors to get a vaccine. It could be lying in your bedroom, and you haven't realized that it is a real problem. Guns are the newest, and deadliest killer in the country today. The problem with guns is that they are designed to kill, but yet they are the only product in the United States to have almost no regulations. The Consumer Product Safety Commission monitors safety for all consumer goods, except guns (Gun industry reform 1)
             In the years between 1984 and 1994 the United States watched as the death rate for 15-19 year olds by firearms increases 222%, while the rate for non-firearm homicide decreased 13%. "Within five years, firearms are expected to take over motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death among American children" ( Kids & Guns 1). Today, there are over 200 million guns in the United States alone. That works out to almost one for every citizen. Guns are in 43% of houses with children. There is a loaded gun in one of every ten houses in America, and there is an unlocked gun in one of eight family homes in America (Guns in homes 1).
             In 1994, 40% of the youths between 12 and 21 in New York City admitted to having carried a handgun some time in their lives (Report on Gun Violence 1). Each year, 500 youths are killed by a firearm on accident. That is 500 lives that could have been saved, if the gun industry would do something to make its products safer. In 1998, a good friend of mine noticed his father's gun. His family was moving at the time, and he noticed the gun in a box. Not knowing that it was loaded, he picked it up, and pointed it at his brother's chest. As he went to put it down, the gun fired, striking his younger brother in the chest. Six minutes later, he was pronounced dead. This is an example of one of the hundreds of accidental shootings
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