>I respect that you make the best judgement for you own children but I think sometimes the climate of fear we live in is just a way to sell newspapers. And where does that over 100,000 number come from. Over what period , how does it match up against past periods.
>
>Also regarding you son comment. I have one of each and I worry more about my son than I ever did about my daughter. Statistically boys are much more likely to be attacked than girls. But I have to give him freedom to go out and act sensibly and not pass y fear on to him.

I will agree on the climate of fear, and perhaps I am more paranoid than most because I have family who were abducted into the sex trade - one escaped.

Start here (missing children) look at table 3 to start:
http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/nismart2_overview.pdf

The U.S. Department of Justice reports

797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year period of time studied resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day.
203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
58,200 children were the victims of non-family abductions.
115 children were the victims of “stereotypical” kidnapping. (These crimes involve someone the child does not know or someone of slight acquaintance, who holds the child overnight, transports the child 50 miles or more, kills the child, demands ransom, or intends to keep the child permanently.)


Read this story:
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=5382645&page=6

It's estimated that there are currently 100,000 minors in America being forced to trade sex for money. Pimps target the most trusting or vulnerable teens to fill out their stable of working girls and lure them in with promises of riches, love, or in the most extreme cases, brutal force.

FBI Special Agent Mike Beaver helped launch the FBI's Innocence Lost Initiative five years ago to help identify children involved in commercial sex and the predators that recruit them. The efforts have led to the conviction of 308 individuals on a combination of state and federal charges, and to the recovery of 433 child victims, but it's still difficult for most Americans to believe their children are at risk.

Looking at the internet alone, consider this:

How many reports of child exploitation have been made to CyberTipline?

CyberTipline has received more than 546,600 reports since it was established in March 1998.

I think it deserves a little more consideration than banning guns or abortion...