Another day.

Another dollar.Another casualty.Though it comes as no surprise, the list of innocent victims whose lives are claimed by gun-related incidents continues to grow exponentially.That's right: Gun-related incidents.What I want to know is exactly how many lives have to be lost over gun-related incidents?Now, I'm not blind to the fact that those who support the right to bear arms would assuredly argue that it is the perpetrators of the shootings that carry out the deeds, and not the guns themselves.Point taken.And while I agree that it takes someone to actually pull the trigger, my argument is that they couldn't carry out the deed if they didn't have the gun to do it with in the first place.On Jan. 25, two employees at a Maryland shopping mall were shot to death by a man who then turned the gun on himself.Three days earlier, on Jan. 22, a male college student was shot outside Widener University in Chester.Five days before that, on Jan. 17, two students were shot and wounded at a high school in northern Philadelphia.That came after a 12-year-old boy in New Mexico seriously wounded two students with a shotgun Jan. 14.It's been a little over a year since the tragedy that unfolded at Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting in Newtown, CN.Yet, here we are, fearful to take in a movie at a cinema, walk through shops inside a mall, and send our children to school.So, when exactly is this behavior ever going to subside, you ask?The answer is that it won't; at least not as long as the sale of firearms continues to be allowed.Which brings to mind the age-old debate over whether gun control regulations need to be stricter.After doing some research, I found that The Children's Defense Fund compiled various statistics about children and guns that can be found in a report "Protect Children Not Guns 2013".The report, which can be accessed at

www.childrensdefense.org, utilized 2010 data from the Center for Disease Control, and found that:- A child or teen dies, or is injured from guns, every 30 minutes.- Guns are the second leading cause of death among children and teens ages 1 to 19, and the number one cause among black children and teens.- In the past half-century, three times more children and teens have died from guns on American soil than U.S. soldiers killed in action in wars abroad.- U.S. children and teens are 17 times more likely to die from a gun than their peers in 25 other high-income countries combined.Still not convinced?Anyone with even the smallest smidgen of a conscience ought to be alarmed by those figures.While I understand that guns have been around seemingly since the beginning of time, and are far from the only weapon of choice, they nonetheless remain a prevalent force of destruction.For my money, guns should not be sold on the open market.No way. No how.Too many innocent people have lost their lives to gun-related incidents.Protect a child, loved one, co-worker, or even a stranger.Ban the sale of guns, and in turn, save lives.