PLEASE REWORD THE FOLLOWING

This country has a problem with firearms and young people. More than twenty thousand people under twenty years old are killed or injured by firearms every year. "Gun violence second leading cause of death to young people ages 10 to 19. It imposes high economic and psychological costs upon society. Keeping children and youth safe from gun violence and restricting young people's unsupervised access to guns needs to be key priorities for legislators, law enforcement, public health practitioners, educators, and parents" (Behrman, 2002).

The rise in the number of children shot is above the average; guns are wounding and murdering the young people in the community. The increase of children being harmed or committing acts of violence with guns is frustrating. The Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Report has announced that Tennessee is the third most dangerous state in the nation. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has placed Tennessee at eleventh in firearm mortality, seventh in firearm homicide, and fourth highest condition for firearm mortality and homicide among young people from zero to nineteen.

In ten years (2007-2017), firearm mortality increased twenty percent statewide. One of the most significant impacts of gun violence is children and teens from zero to 19 years old. According to JAMA Pediatrics, nationwide, there were 3,400 children and teens shot in 2017, with another 3,000,000 children observing a shooting each year. Gunshot wounds are the second leading cause of pediatric death and are the leading cause of death for African American children and teens in America. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is fifteen times more likely that a black child over a white child will die by a firearm, and a Hispanic child is three times more likely than a white child to pass by a gun. It is eighty-five percent of teenagers that account for children killed by guns. "According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tennessee has one of the highest rates of firearm mortality and one of the highest rates of firearm homicides for young people. The rate of firearm suicides for Tennessee young people is also much higher than almost all other states in the country" (Safe Tennessee Project, n.d.). The statistics place us at number four nationwide.

One thing that law enforcement can help with is enforcing Makayla's Law. This law penalizes gun owners who leave guns out where a child can grab them and injure themselves or others. This law came about when an eight-year-old MaKayla Dyer was playing with a puppy outside her home when an 11 year old neighbor asked them to go to his house, saying he wanted to play with the puppy. MaKayla refused, which upset the boy, who retrieved his father's loaded shotgun and shot MaKayla in the chest. She died in her yard. The boy was charged and convicted of firstdegree murder; he was sentenced to eight years in juvenile prison due to his age. This law makes the father of the boy responsible for leaving a loaded gun unsecured and accessible