VA - Board Of Ed To Develop Gun Safety Curriculum

[Kevlar]

The Virginia General Assembly has directed the state's Board of Education to develop course materials for teaching gun safety to elementary school children that incorporate the guidelines of a National Rifle Association program.

The measure, approved during the legislature's recently concluded annual session, allows local school boards to choose whether to implement the program.

A leading Democrat in the state Senate had amended the bill to allow the state board to also incorporate materials from a second group, the National Crime Prevention Center. But Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) has proposed stripping the amendment from the bill, leaving the reference only to NRA material.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042003752.html.

Schoolchildren in Virginia who aren't old enough to pack their lunches yet will soon start learning about packing heat as part of a new gun-safety curriculum backed by the NRA, FOXNews.com reported Saturday.

Schools can decide whether or not to offer the gun-safety education program to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Schools that do offer it must use the state curriculum, which includes rules used by the NRA's Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program.

The Eddie Eagle mascot advises children: "If you see a gun: STOP! Don't Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult."

The NRA's Eddie Eagle website says that the program's goal "isn't to teach whether guns are good or bad, but rather to promote the protection and safety of children."

Eddie Eagle does not promote firearm ownership or use and firearms are never used in the program, the website says.

"Like swimming pools, electrical outlets, matchbooks and household poison, they're treated simply as a fact of everyday life," the website says. "With firearms found in about half of all American households, it's a stance that makes sense."

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpps/ne...gun-safety-classes-dpgonc-20100424-jd_7226049

 

[Sibb]

I think that's great! Think how many tragedies that may have been averted if more states adopted a similar system.

 

[RFWAVELENGTH]

This is definitely a smart idea. There is no safety in ignorance. If a kid from a non-gun-owning household who has never seen a real gun will know what to do if he/she finds one. It is my devout hope that the vast majority of schools will decide to participate in this life-saving program

 

[MisterHappy]

This is definitely a smart idea. There is no safety in ignorance. If a kid from a non-gun-owning household who has never seen a real gun will know what to do if he/she finds one. It is my devout hope that the vast majority of schools will decide to participate in this life-saving program

Not holding my breath....wasn't it a week or so ago we were commenting on the kid that got the suspension for making a finger gun?

I've never seen an Eddie Eagle Presentation, but I'm guessing that if it's not "STOP! Don't touch! Leave the Area! Tell an adult that there is elemenal evil present!" it won't be hard-core enough for most schools....

There is a great virtue (for the Anti point of view) in ignorance: fear. If you don't know about guns, then whatever you're told about the dangers is true.

(As an aside, my 5th grader was reading a book with a classmate abotu the revolution and its weapons. There was a misprint to the effect of: "the muskets shot 7-inch bullets" (apparently, the decimal point was left out.) My kid knew that this was not true, and told the other kid to ignore that bit. But I'll bet that everyone else would have accepted it as Truth.

 

[Climbnsink]

Because public school teachers did so well conveying the metric system. Seriously I think this is a great idea, with some reservations about getting a good end product, everyone should know how to handle a firearm. Whenever I read a story about a gun being found in a public school it surprises me that the teachers manage to not have a ND.