Walmart sells lethal guns for kids, yet led the fight to ban candy cigarettes

From Keystone Sporting Arms "Kids Corner" gallery for their Crickett guns

Every day I see report after report of children killed by guns.  All too often, it is because a gun owner allowed their lethal weapon to be within reach of a child.

Most sane people understand that children are naturally curious, impetuous, and unable to fully consider the ramifications of their actions.  That's why there are age limits for so many things, such as entry into bars, driving, voting, purchasing liquor, or buying cigarettes.

Yet, for some bizarre reason, a certain subset of the population thinks that children should nonetheless be given access to guns.  REAL guns.  And not just given access, but even ownership.

It is to this subset that certain gun manufacturers actively market their lethal weapons for children.

A company called Keystone Sporting Arms manufactures and sells small rifles, including the .22 "Cricket", specifically to arm small children.  And by "small" I mean really, really young, like ages 4 or 5.  With nifty colors like pink to attract the children.  See them HERE or HERE.  It's sickening.  They market them with a slogan of "My first rifle."

One 5-year old boy recently used his "first rifle" (a .22 Cricket) to shoot and kill his 2-year old sister.  Keystone must be so proud.

They sell 60,000 of these guns a year...

And who re-sells these guns for them?  Why, Walmart, of course!  Don't believe me?  Go HERE to see for yourself.

Walmart's product page for a pink .22 Crickett gun for children

As I've pointed out before, Walmart bans all sorts of things that they deem "too dangerous" for children, including books, CDs (such as this one from Sheryl Crow), or even a pregnant Barbie doll.

A really ironic thing about this, as pointed out recently by Nash Riggins at HuffingtonPost.com, is that Walmart had previously been a leader in banning candy cigarette sales to children, understanding that candy cigarettes would break down that wall of prohibition in the mind of a child to smoking real cigarettes later in life.  From Nash's article, refering to the death of that 2-year old girl:

NRA members in Texas have already rationalized the young girl's death by shrugging that these weapons 'aren't toys,' and that it 'comes down to the responsibility of adults' to ensure that serious accidents are avoided. For once, they're absolutely right: guns are not toys, and it's the responsibility of adults everywhere to ensure that children aren't set up to make more fatal mistakes just because their gun-toting parents possess an innate desire to condition their children to adore firearms. After all, if candy cigarettes have been scientifically proven to hurt kids, what the hell do you think cute, pint-sized rifles do to them? Perhaps the next time America's biggest retailer campaigns to ban the sale of certain products in order to keep kids safe, it should look to its own sporting goods section.

Another article quotes the coroner and the 2-year old's grandmother:

“It’s a Crickett,” the coroner for Kentucky’s Cumberland County, Gary White, confirmed. “It’s a little rifle for a kid. The little boy’s used to shooting the little gun. Accidents happen with guns.” The victim’s grieving grandmother, Linda Riddle, said: “It was God’s will. It was her time to go, I guess. I just know she’s in heaven right now and I know she’s in good hands with the Lord.”

But it isn't "God's will" that took that child's life.  It was a bullet, from a gun, bought by the boy's parents, sold by Walmart and other distributors, for a gun manufacturer that specifically markets guns to little children.

Walmart will gladly stop the use of paring knives in all its bakeries because of one stupid mistake that almost endangered one child's life, but they will gladly continue selling guns for small children.

Walmart.  Save money.  Die faster.