Daniel Lee's Page

Daniel Lee's Page

My Info:

[email protected]

Email:

This page is being dedicated to our son, Daniel Lee, whom was born in September 1993 and past away in January of 2002.

Daniel Lee age 7

Where Dan always wanted to be!

This is Daniel and his older brother Michael at the age of six months old. I can only remember that he always had a great smile no matter what mood he was in. At this age here I remember that he loved to go over those types of bumps that would tickle your stomach, and he would just sit there in his car seat and laugh so hard that he would literally have tears in his little eyes.

On Dan's third birthday I introduced him to his first ride on our motorcycle and all he could do while riding around town was scream "Help Help let me off!" This was also the time in which he amazed us by having a bike for the first time with no training wheels. We said to him to wait to try and ride it until we bought some training wheels but what did Dan do? He went out and grabbed the bike and rode it down a very steep hill all by himself and we were all so amazed that we stood there wacthing him with our mouths wide open think I don't believe my eyes.

This is when a little brother should be sad to see his older brother go to school, but in this case he knew better. Dan knew that he was going to get to stay home with the old man and have fun. Even then Dan had the nickname of Dan The Man.

This is Daniel at one of the hardest times in his life. Just prior to this picture Dan had lost his mother do to a heart attack. Yet at this time I was currently talking to a lady that had a large impact on me and all my children. You see I have three biological children and now that the woman that I was talking with then is now married to me I have three step children in the house and two that live with their father. Even when Dan had his bad times in life he always had a smile for you and would always make it a point to speak with you no matter who you are. We all called Dan the catalyst in this house because he could so easily switch himself around to communicated with all the children here, even when we as parents could not. Dan made us all smile and laugh and was able (without words) to make us see when we were wrong. Nearly eleven months after this picture Dan's life came to a very sudden end. This is the reason that I wanted to do this page for Dan and for every parent out there that sees this page. Because there are things that we as adult parents see as being a toy gun as we knew them back years ago. That stereo type has all to much changed into a very dangerous killing machine that in our terms and the terms of many others is even way to powerful for teens in which they market these "GUNS". Yet there are some states that will allow a child who is eight years of age to purchase these guns. Now keep in mind that all of the warnings that are on the Daisy Products are voluntary. All my son told my new wife was that he wanted to be like Daddy, but now do to these types of killer toys on the market he will never even get a chance and for the rest of us leave us all scarred for life. We will always wonder what would Dan do in this situation or what would he say, what would he really grow up to be??? Then there is the other feelings, that of having what you feel like is your insides ripped out and the everyday feeling that you are missing something or someone. In these next pages there are going to be some valuable information as to these types of guns in which that we speak of.

News Paper Article Reads Like This

Daniel Lee (leaving out last name) was the victim of a shooting accident at his home outside of Holstein, Iowa. Sources report that a couple of children were using a pellet gun to shoot targets when Daniel accidentally stepped into the line of fire. The pellet penetrated young Daniel's chest and pierced his heart.
     The Ida county Sheriff's department received the 911 call and the ambulance was rushed to the scene. Daniel was taken to Sioux Valley Memorial Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead at 3:07 PM.
     Daniel, age 8 was a second grader at the Galva -Holstein Elementary School. His classmates and friends will always remember he was full of life , and always had a smile for you.
     Daniel's parents are Michael and Shannon (leaving out last name) of Holstein. Daniel has three brothers and two sisters.
     Many people are not aware of the dangers a simple bb gun or pellet gun can possess. The earlier BB guns most of us remember didn't have near the power they have now. The newer models are pressurized and can achieve high velocity.

BB guns and pellet guns fall into a category called air guns. Air gun injuries accounted for 87 of 162 injuries caused by guns at Children's Pediatric Hospital. Out of 42 children hospitalized for air gun injuries, half need surgery. Operations ranged from removing pellets in an arm or a leg to repairing lacerations in the eye and the arteries in the neck.
Accidents involving air guns and air rifles are an even more frequent cause of injury to children. In 1980, approximately 23,000 injuries associated with no powder guns were treated in the US hospital emergency rooms. In two thirds of the cases the victim was less than 16 years of age.

During the last thirty days without Daniel here beside us, we have been doing extensive research into all aspects of these supposed "Toy Guns". What we have found out is very shocking.

    Projectiles penetrating the skin is determined by impact velocity; this varies between 36 and 70 meters per second or 120 to 230 feet per second. Eye penetration requires a velocity 39 meters per second or 130 feet per second. For the penetration of skin and primary penetration of bone, a minimum impact velocity 106 meters per second (350 feet per second) is needed. Interposed clothing and distance will diminish the speed of the projectile. Air guns are capable of attaining an impact velocity of 83 to 106 meters per second or up to 350 feet per second and air rifles up to 273 meters per second or 900 feet per second. Air rifles operate by compression or carbon monoxide canisters which may attain bone penetrating velocities. The multiple pump air rifles, which can attain the highest velocities, are of particular concern.

    Despite the serious and even fatal consequences accidents related to toy firearms, little has been to protect children from these injuries. Voluntary industry product standards for projectile toy guns do not include specifications for projectile tip geometry, maximum velocity, impact force, or protective devices. In addition, there is not any protection against improvised ammunition. At present there are no federal, state or local regulations for these guns.

     The industry's voluntary statement, is that no powder guns be labeled "To be used with adult supervision". Age 16 years old is generally acceptable cutoff point for unsupervised use. A US Consumer Product Safety Commission study showed that no adult was present at the time 80 percent of the children less than 16 years of age were injured. In addition, recent data indicated that 40 percent of the children were using multiple-pump air rifles are less than 16 years of age and 12 percent are 12 years of age or younger.

    There have been calls for government regulations of these weapons. Although, some have suggested that legislation mandating protective eye wear might be helpful, coupled with regulations that prevent manufactures from labeling BB guns and pellet guns as suitable for children as young as eight years of age. However, only 11 states currently have regulations that regulates the sales and use of air guns.

    In my own words I say this, Your eye wear might save an eye, but when your guns built for children nearly send a projectile all the way through a child then what, wear body armor and if you think that all sixteen year olds think with what God gave them all the time without supervision, then you are dead wrong. Because of this information above, we firmly believe that any manufacture that produces such guns with this much destructive power should be responsible for there product. Especially since there are not any real regulations of these guns which could protect children from the harm that these guns can produce and in our case even death. You would think that with the growing numbers of air gun related injuries that the government would take this matter more seriously than they do. Yet they concentrate on less important things and then try to make us all believe that they are all for the protection of our nations children. But who am I, I am just a grieving father who wonders what his son would have become twenty years from now. So to all those parents out there who see this page, take into consideration the information on this page before buying one of these guns, and for those who already have one use the highest of caution and keep them locked like any other gun, and for those who see this page looking for answers as to why like we did, our heart goes out to you.

To My Son: Always remember that Dad loves you and forever will miss you!!!!!

1993

2002

Here we are several months later and still dealing with the loss of our son, best friend, peace maker, and funny man. We have had may e-mails and guest book signings sent to us about the information on just this page alone, yet there are literally thousands of pages out there that even have more shocking information than ours. We very much enjoy hearing from anyone who sees this page and strongly welcome anyone who wants to join us in our fight to put stronger restrictions and safety regulatoins on these manufactures. If we stand togather and let them know that taking a few minutes to put better safety features in their products, then others won't have to spend a lifetime of loss. If you wish to contact us about joining this fight then please freel free to contact us by e-mailing your name and type of injury, or just to support us in trying to keep children safe, to [email protected] . We beleive that if there are enough of us standing togather then we can make them listen to our concerns.

One year ago today, January 19, 2002, Daniel Lee past away. Through this year we have had alot of ups and downs, but in the end we have grown stronger together through the memories and wisdom left to us by a wonderful and loving son. No matter how hard anyone has judged us or how hard we have fallen, his memory has made us rise and and dust off to face another day together. We will always love and miss DAN THE MAN, and we will forever love the little boy that brought so much love and togetherness here. With alot of prayer and renewed faith we pulled together to see and face this very hard day. As we stood together we said we love and miss you, but we also agree we would give anything to have you back. " LET THE CHILDREN COME UNTO ME" you are home now, an angel there as you were here.

Yet another year has past and still the loss is felt. The pain is easing slowly and the outside help for this has been good too. But the memories will always will be there to fall back on. We are now embarking into a new journey over this which will bring back that very terrible day of January. Our household still has some ugly scars that are still in repair but with the strenght of God we will triumph and all will be healed. From this I say to one person Good Job Mark and stay with it God will help.

I want to say thank to all whom have seen this site and dropped me a line. I do this because I will no longer be signing into this account anymore and as we all know Yahoo or Geocities will update things one day and since no one has signed in they will do away with this page to make more room.