Wyoming Senate wants 5th graders to learn gun safety

[shadowrider]

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The state Senate has passed legislation requiring public schools to offer hunter safety courses and to have student restraint policies.

Senate File 71 requires that districts offer an elective course to fifth and sixth graders in hunter and gun safety. It passed on a 21-9 vote Thursday.

A couple of senators voiced concern about burdening schools with hunter safety courses, but proponents noted the measure allows schools to offer such courses as an extracurricular activity.

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=176871&catid=346

Good stuff. In a state where hunting is very widespread, the more these kids can learn about guns/hunter safety, the better.

[Glassunion]

1. More NRA bullshit, feeding their guns and spreading thier propaganda to children

All in the name of the all too powerful gun lobby, funded by the gun manufacturers.

About right?

[Tesha]

5. I wonder if Wyoming has mandatory comprehensive sex-ed for their kids?

After all, while only 60% of Wyoming's citizens have guns,
nearly 100% of them have genitals.

Or is Wyoming one of those "abstinence-only" places where
they believe filks can "just say no" to anything but guns?

Tesha

[reggie the dog]

17. if they have abstinence in needs to be scrapped

and safe sex explained and i hold the same view for gun safety

[gejohnston]

58. It was comprehensive when I was a kid

By the way, your regional bigotry is showing.

[shadowrider]

6. You learn well, grasshopper

Let the anti's jump up and down to stop it, the program will only get stronger.

Maybe McCarthy could incorporate a ban on this stuff in her new "Ban guns" legislation, then shout it from the rooftops.

[MicaelS]

8. Oh, so you are saying KNOWLEDGE is a bad idea, correct?

Teaching children about safety is a bad idea right? So I guess sex-education is a bad idea, and schools should teach abstinence only, correct?

[shadowrider]

9. Chill dude.

He's on our side. He's merely spouting the kinds of responses we'll likely get from anti-gun posters.
See my response to him.

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ileus]

60. you forgot a yup or 10

[spin]

63. Sure it's a better idea to NOT educate children and then complain when they die ...

in a tragic accident that the training might have prevented.

:banghead:

[liberal N proud]

2. With 60% gun ownership in Wyoming it may not be a bad idea

If there are guns in nearly every home, and hunting is a big deal in Wyoming, it might not be a bad idea teaching them in school. They may not be getting it at home.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/interactives/guns/ownership.html

[shadowrider]

7. Agreed 100% n/t

[reggie the dog]

18. everywhere

gangster kids carry guns and have had little or no safety or marksmanship training. accidental shootings and the killing of unintended targets could be reduced with this kind of program in chicago

[HockeyMom]

3. They better require written parental consent

for this course, at the very least.

[PavePusher]

4. It's an elective course, not a requirement.

Don't start the hand-wringing.

[reggie the dog]

19. if no guns are actually handled

i would say no need to parental consent, if guns are handled then i can see where you are coming from

[badtoworse]

25. Just out of curiosity, would you give yours?

Before you respond, consider the number of stories you hear about where a young child finds a gun, plays with it and tragedy ensues. Would you want your kids to 1.) have a clear understanding that they are not toys; and 2.) know how to deal with a situation where they encounter a gun? You may not keep guns in your own home, but it could happen in a friend's home or elsewhere.

Considering the number of guns in circulation in this country, I believe that basic gun safety is something that everyone should be taught, regardless of their views about RKBA, gun control, etc.

[HockeyMom]

40. No, I wouldn't if actual guns were handled

I had two daughters. My husband owned guns. They were locked in a metal closet with a combination lock. My daughters, or their friends, showed no interest in his guns growing up. His ammo was in a different locked box in another place. The odds of them, or anyone, finding both the guns and ammo in different places, and unlocking them, were very slim.

Yes, I knew where they were, but by my choice, did not know the combination or have a key.

[slackmaster]

35. Sure, as is required with sex education

Parents should have the option of keeping their children ignorant.

[HockeyMom]

41. I had to give my consent for sex education

for my daughters in public schools years ago.

[slackmaster]

43. BTDT many years ago myself

I've done my time as a parent.

I taught my stepson gun safety, as my stepfather did for my brother and me. (Also more than 100 other people including teenagers and adults.)

More and more children are growing up without a parent who is qualified to teach it. That's why I support having it offered in public schools.

I'd concentrate on how to safely unload five or six types of firearms that are in common use.

[HockeyMom]

48. What for?

If neither of their parents own guns? As I said, I have two daughters who never showed any interest in guns. Even as adults today, neither of them do.

[slackmaster]

49. My parents never had a pet rattlesnake, but I learned how to watch for and avoid them.

The probability of a child going through life without ever encountering an improperly stored firearm in his or her life is not zero.

[HockeyMom]

51. The odds of encountering a rattlesnake in NYC

is about the same as enountering an impropertly stored firearm there too.

[Straw Man]

55. Rattlesnakes in NYC.

The odds of encountering a rattlesnake in NYC

is about the same as enountering an impropertly stored firearm there too.

That depends a great deal on where you live. Some neighborhoods are awash in unregistered rattlesnakes.

[slackmaster]

56. We certainly have them in California

[shadowrider]

57. If that snake was shot, shame on them. They should have used their fists or martial arts

Do I need the :sarcasm: thingy?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

53. What if realistic replicas are used instead?

Real look, feel, weight only

[pipoman]

10. When I was in school

we had a sport shooting unit in high school physical education. Kids brought their cased shotguns to school on the bus. If a kid didn't have a gun, no worries, the school had a locker with some loaners. At the end of the unit, if a student didn't already have their hunter's safety card, they could test for it. It was required at the end of the unit for freshmen. This was state wide. No accidents and certainly no intentional shootings.

[shadowrider]

11. That's unpossible

Everyone knows guns cause normal people to become blood-thirsty savages, shooting everyone in sight. Those had to be toy guns since no one was hurt.

Do I actually need the :sarcasm: thingy?

[notadmblnd]

12. Thats about the age my son took hunters safty classes

Of course, it wasn't mandated by the state. I went to the first class with him. The first thing they did was to make them watch a video where an accidental shooting occurred. There was a lengthy discussion afterward on what they had just seen.

It was graphic and it left a mark on my son as far as taking guns seriously. He hunts with his grandfather once a year because he feels obligated. But in all honesty, he's just not into guns and we keep none in our home. Knives on the other hand.....

[shadowrider]

13. This isn't mandatory. It's an elective n/t

[reggie the dog]

21. my dad did his own gun safety with me

he filled up clear milk gallons with jello. then shot them each with one bullet, a regular tip, a hollow point, to show how bullets made different "wounds", then he "unloaded" his six shooter, i was 5 and i said, yes dad, it is unloaded...

he pointed his "unloaded" 44 at a milk gallon filled with jellow, squeezed the trigger and made the thing basically blow up. he told me "you see how even an "unloaded" gun can blow someones head off???"

"1st rule of guns ALWAYS ASSUME IT IS LOADED, if it is unloaded upon inspection, load it, as an unloaded gun is useless"
"2ND RULE only point a gun at somone if you need to shoot them, and only shoot someon in SELF DEFENSE or to defend another person from an aggressor, not to stop them from stealing a tv"

all my cousins know the 1st rule of guns

i bet you do too

[shadowrider]

23. Even if it's disassembled for cleaning, ASSUME IT'S LOADED n/t

[RSillsbee]

36. Your first rule is incorrect

All guns are loaded unless they are disassembled period

edit but I get your point/edit

[LuvNewcastle]

14. This is a good thing.

With so many guns around, it makes sense that we teach people how to handle (and how not to handle) firearms. I don't think it will cause people to carry guns around more; we took a firearm safety course when I was in seventh grade and I have never owned a gun. I just don't see how it can be a bad thing to instill a healthy amount of respect for guns.

[reggie the dog]

15. i support this like i would drivers ed

i think it is great that a state wants to teach firearms safety, seeing as there is no test to get a gun card i can only think this course will save lives potentially lost to accidents. i learned gun safety at the age of 5, by 5th grade my dad had me on assault rifle training (just when we went on vacation to where we had a private gun range)pistols and hunting weapons. later when i was in university i had a friend who was a gangster to pay his tuition. i was also doing undercover investigation for a sociology class called "the socilolgical role of criminal gangs in urban youth"
?
long story short, a dipshit smoking pcp and playing with his semi auto matic 9mm put the magazine in, loaded a bullet in the chamber, took the magazine out and pointed the loaded gun at everyone thinking it was unloaded. i disarmed him (at risk of being shot for then having a gun in a gang house when i was not a member of the gang) but when i proved that it was loaded everyone shut up fast. I asked the teen why he hadnt paid attention when his dad taught him how to shoot, he said he never met his dad.... there was a "gang trial" in which "cap" the gang captian came around and we gave testimony and he handed down punishment, to a crying kid willing to do ANYTHING to go back up in esteem in caps eyes, even kill someone....

long story short, teaching gun safetly can only be a plus, how many people use guns daily and have no clue what they hell they are doing? at least this way gangsters would learn gun safety and how to aim

[reggie the dog]

16. this would be good in any state

think of illinois, lots of teens carry and use guns on a daily basis in chicago and have NEVER had any gun safety or markmenship training. accidental shootings, toddlers playing with guns, and innocent bystanders killed instead of their targets would go down too. i do not support that these gangsters use guns for crime, but at least if they knew gun safety their families and innocent bystanders would be safer.

[shadowrider]

20. In Illinois, specifically Chicago

IIRC, you have to now, according to their new and enhanced gun control rules, get training from a certified instructor, at exhorbitant cost at inconvenient hours, and must go to a state certified shooting range.

Neither of these exist because they're against the law. MAYBE there's one that's opened but it remains, cost and hours make it almost impossible to get into. Besides, I seriously, seriously doubt a gang-banger would sign-up.

[reggie the dog]

26. whereas if it were mandatory in school

in 5th grade, before they drop out, they would learn gun safety

[shadowrider]

27. Point taken n/t

[littlewolf]

22. K & R this is great .... all states should consider this

[LiberalFighter]

24. It should not be provided in schools.

If kids are interested in firearms then they should join 4-H for the training they can provide.

[shadowrider]

28. Just out of curiosity

Why not in school? It's an elective no one is forced to take.

[LiberalFighter]

31. Kids should not have firearms in school. Or anyone else for that matter.

When I was in 4-H we were taught at a fire range.

Why should firearm safety be taught in schools? Schools now are having difficulty with funding just teaching what they should be teaching. Now you want those same funds to be stretched even further?

Where will it stop with electives? All of the electives that we had in high school either had to do with additional courses beyond the required areas to prepare for college or to prepare for employment.

[shadowrider]

32. I sincerely, sincerely doubt they'll have actual firearms they're going to give to 5th-6th graders

The article doesn't say, but I'd guess it's classroom type instruction.

[badtoworse]

33. My high school had a 50ft, .22 cal. range in the basement...

... and a very respectable Rifle Team. I learned gun safety and marksmanship in 10th grade.

[PavePusher]

34. Why should responsible Civil Rights not be taught in schools?

That would seem, on the surface, one of their primary duties.

[Abq_Sarah]

54. Because many people use the cafeteria method when it comes to rights

The rights they like are enshrined and inviolate.

Rights they aren't interested in exercising are up for debate or elimination.


Unfortunately, too many of those people call themselves Democrats.

[oneshooter]

37. Including Police. or Security. n/t

[shadowrider]

39. That always gets them

"But, but I didn't mean them. They're trained" and whatnot.

[AtheistCrusader]

45. Funny, I think I heard a Republican say the same thing about comprehensive sex ed.

[ZombieHorde]

29. I took a hunter's/gun safety class when I was a kid. nt

[KansasVoter]

30. LOL...while the US falls behind the rest of the world in education! Brilliant!

[friendly_iconoclast]

42. Are there any other safety classes you believe should not be taught?

Go ahead and speak freely. I notice you've been a little reticent about your feelings lately....

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ileus]

38. 5th grade is a little bit late in the game.

Basics should be taught to first graders, and each year information should be built upon that.

[RamboLiberal]

47. +1 I've been to the funeral of a child who was accidentally killed

by a friend who pulled his brother's hunting rifle out from under the bed & at least one kid pointed it & pulled the trigger.

After that I used to talk quite often to my the kids in my martial arts class telling them that story & talking about gun safety. Never had a parent object.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

52. There really needs to be two classes

One earlier and mandatory. "Recognize, don't touch, leave the area, go tell an adult" kind of thing. Realistic replicas should be used, not real weapons. Pure safety and not propaganda from either side.

High school elective/after hours with parental permission. Should cover requirements for a hunter safety course and any other training required for firearms ownership in that locality.

[spin]

64. Agreed! (n/t)

[Logical]

59. I have no issue if this is an elective. n-t

[ileus]

took mine in 1981 7th grade...this education beat all the safes and locks made.

That being said, I still keep all but the gun I'm carrying locked up. Too many kids in and out of my home that I have no idea of their skill. Plus kids being kids they love to show off to their friends.


I've already taught my kids the rules of the road they're 6 & 8 but someday they'll take the class and test at school.

[ileus]

61. dup

I don't know why???

[DWC]

62. Sending this to my Texas State Legislators. Outstanding ! n/t