US state weighing gun lessons for schoolchildren

[RamboLiberal]

Source: breitbart.com

West Virginia is considering a bill to teach schoolchildren how to handle a gun and hunt safely its proponent hopes will increase state revenues from hunting licenses, a state lawmaker said Thursday.

"We will teach a hunting safety course during their physical education class," state senator and bill sponsor Billy Wayne Bailey told AFP. The courses would be imparted in secondary schools, from the eighth to 10th grade (13-16 years of age).

"They will learn gun safety, the proper use of fire arms. All the weapons will be disabled so there is no chance of discharging," he said, adding that the state Senate was expected to take up the bill next week.

"Hunting is an economic and cultural thing and we have seen a decline of hunting licenses over the past years," said the lawmaker, explaining that his bill would boost interest in hunting in West Virginia.

Children 10 years and older can already apply for a hunting license in West Virginia, which makes 1.5 billion dollars a year from hunting-related activities, the senator said.




Read more: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080201141120.x8hzrof7&show_article=1

---

Wonder if they still have rifle teams? Some high schools in neighboring PA still do though most dropped.

[LostinVA]

1. I think it's a good idea

Parents should be able to opt out, but I see nothing wrong with teaching safety.

[virginia mountainman]

2. Excellent Idea..

I also agree with the ability to "opt out"

[DBoon]

25. So the "kids" in MS13 can learn to do drive by shootings safely?

In any urban area, the second amendment boils down to being able to eliminate gang rivals more effectively.

Well that's the price we pay so rural kids can hunt squirrels

Maybe the next time some small child is killed in gang cross fire, we should send the distraught parents a medal so they can remember their children died for our freedom to bear arms

[-..__...]

34. So...

it would seem that the problem lies with the gang-banging vermin and not the guns or the rural kids that are squirrel hunting
(yeah... gotta watch out fer them there Hatfields and McCoys cruising around in their pick-ups taking pot shots at one another).

It's a sad day in this country when a law abiding majority segment of society has to compromise or sacrifice their Constitutional rights
all because another segment finds it necessary to resort to violence in order to resolve petty disputes.

[Lex Talionis]

38. Now that must be what they call ..

Extrapolation!
So help me understand. Teaching gun safety = bad, young people will mow down each other. Teaching 3rd graders about sex = good, cause then they can decide to have babies or not. Did I extrapolate, or not?

[derby378]

42. How many MS13 thugs are in West Virginia?

Sheesh, why don't you child-proof the Constitution, already? :eyesroll:

[primavera]

47. Yep, that's about the size of it

But good luck convincing the gun nuts of that - to them no amount of innocent bloodshed can ever justify asking them to sacrifice the pleasure they derive from blowing living creatures into lifeless, bloody bits.

[knowledgeispwr]

3. I don't see anything wrong with it.

At least in the early 2000s, there were still rifle teams at a few high schools in NC.

I saw this story in some international press (Spain). Those who commented on the story were horrified and cited it as evidence of how "crazy, backwards and stupid" us Americans are.

[jody]

4. Schools teach "sex safety" & it makes sense to teach "gun safety" with a parents opt out policy. n/t

[RamboLiberal]

5. I agree - I think it would take some of the "forbidden fruit"

aspect out of finding and playing with a gun and reinforce that guns are dangerous and you need to handle them safely.
I actually think they should take the kids out to a range under supervision and let them try either air guns or .22s.

[Thor_MN]

14. Since almost everyone engages in sexual activity at some point

a required course on sexual safety makes sense.

I fail to see ANY possible analogy between gun safety and sex safety. I hate to even picture a scenario where hunting in the US becomes a needed life skill (although if we keep trying supply side economics...)

I think a gun safety course is a good idea, I and all my siblings took one as children. However, I don't think that the case can be made that even most people will handle a gun during their lives. The course I took was after school, optional and definately not designed with the primary object of generating hunting license fees. I see no need to sacrifice school time to teach gun safety in hopes of generating hunting license fees.

[slackmaster]

39. Think of unsecured guns as an environmental hazard that your children might encounter

We teach them to check for scorpions when they put on shoes that have been sitting outside. We teach them to avoid black widow spiders and rattlesnakes. We teach them to take cover during thunderstorms. We teach them how to swim.

Whether you like it or not, there IS a significant chance that your child is one day going to be in a situation where a firearm is in the hands of another kid playing with it, or carelessly left around unsecured by its owner.

Do you want your child to know how to handle such a situation?

I've taught basic gun safety to more than 100 people in my life, many of them young teens.

[doc03]

6. I think it's a very good idea

especially in a state like WV where nearly everyone has a gun. It would teach the kids respect for a gun and probably prevent many accidents. One of my schoolmates killed his friend while playing with a handgun, I think they were around 10 years old at the time. My father started the first 4H club gun program in the state of Ohio back around 1962.

[pipoman]

7. When I was in high school in the 1970's

we had a unit in Phys Ed each year for trap shooting. The school actually had a armory which consisted of a gun safe and a couple dozen single shot 12 gauge shotguns. Any student could bring their own shotgun to school, some were brought on the school bus. There was never an accident or a school shooting.

We have raised 2 boys. Both have been around the shooting sports and hunting their whole lives. They have been hammered with the rules since they were tiny. We started them shooting .22 rifles when they were 6 or 7, shotguns at around 10 or 11, higher power deer rifles 12 and hand guns around 14 always with adult supervision. They have always known the real danger associated with guns. They have always been told that they can shoot the guns anytime they want as long as one of the adults are available to supervise. There was no mystery about guns. They didn't touch them without asking or if we weren't home. I tested them several times by leaving an unloaded gun out of the safe in full view with a hair balanced on it. They would often come tell us "there is a gun out", but the hair never moved. Education is the key to firearms safety.

[Guaranteed]

9. Well done.

I don't know about leaving the gun out, but your approach was dead on. There should be no "mystery" about guns, as you said.

[virginia mountainman]

10. Rifles and shotguns where common in the early 1990's

In Virginia high school parking lots, especially during hunting season...

No problems where ever encountered, I even kept an old .303 Lee Enfield bolt action rifle in the backseat of my car, during deer season, and a 12 gauge during turkey season...

No issue was ever encountered, and YIKES, no one got shot, matter of fact, everyone was extremely responsible. This was back in 91 and 92, back when I, was in high school.

Kids in my county still do it today, but they park their cars across the street from the high school, in a benevolent car dealerships back lot....you know the "gun free" instant felony thing.

[LiberalFighter]

30. where common?

[sofa king]

48. Plenty of guns here in the Valley

I was at a Super Bowl party in Staunton where a few dozen 9mm rounds were snapped off before the festivities began. I also saw a rifle on the back deck, and at least two of the people there have concealed carry permits and were likely packing. I wasn't hanging around with a particularly rough crowd.

The interesting thing to me was that as soon as people started drinking in earnest, the guns disappeared and didn't come back out.

While there have been no murders in Staunton in the past two years, Augusta County, which surrounds Staunton, can count on between one and six murders or manslaughters a year. That's pretty high considering Augusta and Staunton together don't have more than 100,000 residents. However, I'd be willing to bet that most of those crimes are hunting related manslaughter charges.

Since most victims of hunting accidents are other hunters, there is an element of voluntary risk which must be considered. Safety courses in school around these parts would be a great idea if it's not already done, because hunting is one of the primary forms of recreation and for some it's part of subsistence.

I think it would be a really, really bad idea to try to take away the guns from these folks. For those of you who are afraid of guns, I suggest moving to Washington, DC, where owning a firearm is prohibited... for your safety.

[tularetom]

8. I applaud this concept

But if they really want to increase revenue from the sale of hunting licenses they need to do something to stop the privatization of public lands throughout the country. Much of the land histoorically available for sportsmen has been leased or sold to timber or mining companies who are restricting the public use of such lands. As it becomes more and more difficult to find suitable areas for hunting it will continue to become more and more a sport for the very affluent. And license sales will continue to decline.

As a hunter I believe republican public land policies are doing more to cause a decline in hunting than any so called anti gun measures that may be adopted.

[pipoman]

12. AMEN TO THAT

As a hunter I believe republican public land policies are doing more to cause a decline in hunting than any so called anti gun measures that may be adopted.

The former puke gov. of KS Mike Hayden is now and has been the director of the Parks Department here. He has made it almost impossible for anyone but land owners and the wealthy to hunt. Hunting has become a big business for a small amount of people. Huge tracts of private ground are now leased by just a few people who bring in the Cheney types for $1k per day hunts. Where kids used to be able to go ask permission to hunt there is almost nobody left to ask. It is a huge pet peeve of mine. We are lucky enough to have family hunting land, there are a lot of people who just quit hunting.

[Xithras]

29. The land i quail hunted as a kid is now all subdivisions.

In many areas of this country it's not just private leases that are undermining hunting areas, but development and subdivision of properties for ranchettes. The increasing population has made vast areas of many states unsuitable for any kind of hunting. The proliferation of gun fear also means that anyone seen walking down a roadway or canal bank with a rifle can almost be guranteed a visit by the local police after a panicked call from some driver on a cell-phone.

"Help! There's a nut on the side of the road with a gun!" I know three different hunters who have been taken down at gunpoint because of paranoid people.

[melm00se]

11. teach 'em

safe guns and safe sex. it's just knowledge...

[JeanGrey]

13. Fantastic idea. We had similar classes in high grade and

high school, which is how I knew how to handle a gun. I wish every state would do it.

[beezlebum]

15. i remember

at my middle school in paradis (Para-DEE), louisiana, 7th grade, all of my peers were taken from regular class, lined up in the gym and took turns- three shots with a shotgun, assisted by an adult skeet shooting. then we were escorted to a table where we signed our names on an orange card- our gun safety certificate, which never expired, and returned to our classrooms. i don't remember taking an actual gun safety class though. just shooting the gun.

[wuushew]

16. Why is everyone applauding increasing voluntary regressive taxation?

This is no different than states running lotteries.

Working smoes subsidizing the rich man, another defeat in the class war. :shrug:

[Quantess]

17. Schools can't afford to teach music anymore.

But they can find the money for gun safety education?

Schools can't afford to fund respectable art classes anymore. So let's fund gun classes? It doesn't seem like a good priority.

[derby378]

19. Teach music AND gun safety

Of course, we'll first have to purge some Republicans and corporatist DINOs from the legislature so we can refocus on educational needs.

[Tesha]

20. Fascist, militaristic, violent societies don't need music. Well, maybe a little Wagner... (NT)

[Quantess]

21. Wasn't Wagner Adolf Hitler's favorite?

[Tesha]

33. So it is said. (NT)

[michreject]

32. Correction

That would be respectable gun class.

[Fierce]

18. I like this idea.

I'd like to see more of it.

[fshrink]

22. Brilliant.

Should be an absolute priority. I often wonder how I made it to 56 without it. Luck I guess. I wouldn't want my children and grandchildren to live a life like mine, not proficient in the techniques of pulling a trigger the right way. Of course I had an air-rifle, with which I used to shoot light bulbs and a few birds when I was 10. Was pretty good at it too. My cousin and I also built fake wooden machine guns and had lots of fun with them patrolling the bushes. How pathetic, when we could have been blessed with the privilege of using the real thing instead. Decidedly, things do move in the right direction.

[Rebellious Republican]

23. Guns are a fact of life, they are not going away anytime soon....

teaching gun safety is a good Idea. It might save a few childrens lives. I do not believe it will promote hunting any more than teaching safe sex promotes sexual activity.

:think:

[DBoon]

24. But we aren't allowed to teach HS kids about contraceptives

Yeah right, teach them how to handle a deadly weapon, but keep them ignorant about human reproduction

[slackmaster]

40. Where are HS kids not taught about contraception?

They certainly are in my state.

[MountainLaurel]

26. I took a gun safety class in phys ed in WV in the late 80s

So I alrady thought it was mandatory. Perhaps it was a hunter safety unit. In any case, it was a standard part of the high school PE curriculum, along with everything from golf to archery to volleyball.

Perhaps it would do some good. In my school, almost every year I was there, some guy would get drunk and accidentally blow his buddy's head off.

[benEzra]

27. Good. (n/t)

[Xithras]

28. This was halfway common up until Columbine.

Part of the post-Columbine fallout was the immediate cancellation of anything gun-related on school campuses. Schools even removed weapons from school logos in fear that they'd spark violent pro-gun opinions (the junior high I attended in the 80's had the "Rough Riders" as a mascot, and the logo was Teddy Roosevelt with a rifle on horseback...they removed the rifle from the logo and replaced it with a freaking FEATHER PEN). It makes sense that some schools may be re-evaluating that knee-jerk reaction.

It's important for kids to know how to react and handle guns, because it's inevitable in our society that they'll come into contact with one some day. Simply saying "leave it alone" isn't enough, and it ignores the naturally curious instincts inherent in children.

[LiberalFighter]

31. IMO it is not appropriate

All the weapons will be disabled so there is no chance of discharging"

Is that a guarantee?

Don't they require young hunters to take a class on hunting safety? I took one when I was in 4-H. I probably still have the card somewhere.

[Paladin]

35. A Class Like That Should Be Optional, Not Mandatory

If parents don't want their kids subjected to firearms, that should be their right.

And such a class isn't going to reverse the ongoing decline in hunting; that's a cultural trend that's going to continue.

[noamnety]

36. I find the principle incredibly offensive.

Nobody else here has a problem with lawmakers mandating a particular course - for the stated purpose of turning students into consumers to generate revenue for the state?

Is that what we should be using our schools for?

[MadHound]

37. Tell you what,

When they boost teachers' pay significantly, restore full funding for arts, include enough money in the budget to completely equip schools, employ enough teachers for decent teacher/student ratios, upgrade the school infrastructure, employ the needed support staff, provide enough money for a well round extracurricular program ranging from tutoring to clubs to athletics, and either eliminate or significantly alter NCLB(including actually funding it), then we can start talking about gun safety courses. Until then it shouldn't receive a dime.

[Paladin]

44. Well Said, Mad Hound (n/t)

[TrogL]

41. Isn't a "gun" an artillery piece?

[ManiacJoe]

46. Only to the guys shooting artillery and such.

[mattfromnossa]

43. umm

what if they have no interest in guns or hunting? would this course be mandatory?

[Pavulon]

45. A safety course makes sense

kids who watch the idiot box have no concept of firearms. Lessons does not need to be promotion, just educational info.

This is not a toy..