The numbers related to gun violence in the land of the free are, of course, deeply chilling. More than 8,500 Americans were murdered by guns (or rather, by killers wielding guns) in 2011, according to the most recent FBI data. Of those, 565 were under the age of 18; 119 were kids 12 or younger. Wherever one comes down on the gun debate, most sane people can agree that those statistics are a national disgrace and … well, insane.

And from the original 1956 article:
In 1954 more than 550 U.S. children under 15 were killed in accidents involving the careless handling of firearms, five of them in lake County, Indiana. [In 2010, 606 people were killed by “accidental discharge of firearms,” according to the CDC. — Ed.] This situation shocked Indiana Conservation Officer Rod Rankin, who decided to offer a course in gun safety to any interested child in the county. In the past year 2,500 children from 6 years on, with the approval of their parents, have taken him up on it.

via LIFE With Guns: ‘Drawing a Bead on Safety,’ 1956 | LIFE.com.

Check the great pictorial. And of course the snarky final remark of the Editor ignoring the obvious.

Hat tip to Liberty or Zombie podcast via Twitter (@EZKpatriots)