Regarding the letter by Denise Matis-Marks (“Weigh gun risks”, Aug. 24).

I am an advocate of the Second Amendment and a gun owner but not a zealot.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Insurance Information Institute, there are only hundreds of accidents involving children and guns each year — not thousands as the writer claims.

Gun accidents are fifth or sixth after car accidents, drownings, poisoning, falls and fires.

False statements like these warp peoples’ perspectives on subjects, especially one as hot as gun violence.

A firearm can be stored safely and still be loaded and accessible.

The key is education. Kids are curious by nature. We have all touched something just to investigate, so educating children is important.

We should concentrate on more important things, like research. The top three killers of young children are birth defects, car accidents, and drownings, not guns. If parents paid more attention all around, there would be fewer accidents of all kinds.