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Speaker at forum argues for more laws to keep weapons from youths
By Katie Byard Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Oct 11, 2007
The shootings by a 14-year-old at a Cleveland alternative high school Wednesday afternoon raised a question Toby Hoover has pondered many times.
How did the boy get guns?
Hoover, executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, spoke Wednesday evening at the main Akron-Summit County Public Library in downtown Akron.
''Fourteen-year-olds cannot walk into a licensed gun dealer and buy a gun,'' she said before her talk, which was part of a forum, Reducing Gun Violence, sponsored by area faith and community groups.
Did the teen buy the guns illegally from an individual or perhaps at a gun show, she wondered aloud.
Were the firearms in an unsecured place in a home, she asked. ''The question for me today is where did he get the guns?''
Hoover called for tougher laws to keep weapons out of juveniles' hands.
''We need to have something that says any purchase or exchange needs to be done through a licensed dealer who will therefore do background checks,'' she said. ''We need to hold every gun owner accountable for their weapons.''
Hoover, whose first husband, Dale Stone, was shot to death in a store robbery in 1973, used a litany of statistics to argue for more gun control.
She said firearm deaths, including suicides, are the second-leading cause of injury deaths, and guns used in killings are often found in the home.
''Who's killing who?'' Hoover said.
She noted that most shooters know their victims and are husbands or wives or other relatives of those they kill.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
The shootings by a 14-year-old at a Cleveland alternative high school Wednesday afternoon raised a question Toby Hoover has pondered many times.
Get the full article here.
