Another major school shooting today ... Newtown, Conn

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/health_effects/#sids

Secondhand Smoke Causes SIDS

SIDS is the sudden, unexplained, unexpected death of an infant in the first year of life. SIDS is the leading cause of death in otherwise healthy infants.6 Secondhand smoke increases the risk for SIDS.1

Smoking by women during pregnancy increases the risk for SIDS.7
Infants who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are also at greater risk for SIDS.1
Chemicals in secondhand smoke appear to affect the brain in ways that interfere with its regulation of infants' breathing.1
Infants who die from SIDS have higher concentrations of nicotine in their lungs and higher levels of cotinine (a biological marker for secondhand smoke exposure) than infants who die from other causes.1

Parents can help protect their babies from SIDS by taking the following three actions:8

Do not smoke when pregnant.
Do not smoke in the home or around the baby.
Put the baby down to sleep on its back.
Secondhand Smoke and Children

Secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems in children.9

Studies show that older children whose parents smoke get sick more often. Their lungs grow less than children who do not breathe secondhand smoke, and they get more bronchitis and pneumonia.
Wheezing and coughing are more common in children who breathe secondhand smoke.
Secondhand smoke can trigger an asthma attack in a child. Children with asthma who are around secondhand smoke have more severe and frequent asthma attacks. A severe asthma attack can put a child's life in danger.
Children whose parents smoke around them get more ear infections. They also have fluid in their ears more often and have more operations to put in ear tubes for drainage.

Parents can help protect their children from secondhand smoke by taking the following actions:9

Do not allow anyone to smoke near your child.
Do not smoke or allow others to smoke in your home or car. Opening a window does not protect your children from smoke.
Use a smoke-free day care center.
Do not take your child to restaurants or other indoor public places that allow smoking.
Teach children to stay away from secondhand smoke.
References

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/secondhandsmoke/factsheet2.html

The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Children are Hurt by Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic (cancer-causing), including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers.
Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke in Children

Because their bodies are developing, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke.
Both babies whose mothers smoke while pregnant and babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than babies who are not exposed to cigarette smoke.
Mothers who are exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant are more likely to have lower birth weight babies, which makes babies weaker and increases the risk for many health problems.
Babies whose mothers smoke while pregnant or who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth have weaker lungs than other babies, which increases the risk for many health problems.
Secondhand smoke exposure causes acute lower respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and young children.
Secondhand smoke exposure causes children who already have asthma to experience more frequent and severe attacks.
Secondhand smoke exposure causes respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm, wheeze, and breathlessness, among school-aged children.
Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for ear infections and are more likely to need an operation to insert ear tubes for drainage.
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Among Children

The Surgeon General has concluded that there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposures can be harmful.
On average, children are exposed to more secondhand smoke than nonsmoking adults.
Based on levels of cotinine (a biological marker of secondhand smoke exposure), an estimated 22 million children aged 3-11 years and 18 million youth aged 12-19 years, were exposed to secondhand smoke in the United States in 2000.
Children aged 3-11 years and youth aged 12-19 years are significantly more likely than adults to live in a household with at least one smoker.
Children aged 3-11 years have cotinine levels more than twice as high as nonsmoking adults.
Children who live in homes where smoking is allowed have higher cotinine levels than children who live in homes where smoking is not allowed.

Excellent summation, XX, I can't wait to read the gun advocates' answer to Lola.

The American War of Independence was a notable victory of determined yeomen British settlers against a German king and his mercenary army, while the duplicitous French kept the navy busy.

It started a worthwhile experiment in nation-building, and we await with interest to see how it will eventually turn out.

This was for Bill, not Walter. Bill's an expert.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/511194-secondhand-smoke-sudden-infant-death-syndrome/


A 2007 report by the U.S. Surgeon General attributed at least 430 SIDS deaths per year directly to exposure to secondhand smoke, pointing out that secondhand smoke is also responsible for between 24,300 and 71,900 low birth weight and preterm deliveries -- both of which increase a baby's risk for SIDS.

Sorry if you go by the standards that preventing deaths for any reason is the over riding priority then in my opinion we would end up living in a society that would not be worth living in.

An you had been proven not to be an expert on the history of the Royal family of England

Once again one of you 3 avid defenders threw out another irrelevant viewpoint to try to prove why it is rationally acceptable to have a gun??