Gun Training in WV Schools?
Yeesh.
OK, I get the oogies about guns. It’s just a personal thing after an armed robbery. I’m picky about who has guns around me — just funny that way.
West Virginia has seen a 10% drop in registered hunters over the last 10 years and wants to do something about it. They’d like to mandate that schools offer seventh through ninth grade students a class in firearms safety.
The plan is that the guns would have dummy ammunition or be disabled … but I’m sorry. They WANT guns in my kids’ schools?? That’s pretty much all I hear, I can’t get past that part.
I understand that hunting brings in money for the state, is tradition in many families and that it even provides a nice way to fill much needed charity food pantries across the state. I am not against hunting at all. I’m just not sure I care for the thought of guns in my childrens’ schools.
Would anyone else like to share their thoughts on this? Please feel free to leave us a comment.
February 3rd, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Asolutely Absurd!! I would be fuming! There is no way my 7 year old is touching a gun and I would feel the same way you do. I know it may be a cultural thing, but either way it’s not right. First we complain about guns IN school and now WV wants to offer classes?
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Absolutely not; I don’t care how lucrative it is. No one under 18 needs a gun; well of course my opinion is even different than that, but I will stick to the subject at hand. Heaven help us.
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Rediculous! Nope, no way, nada.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Eh…. I have sort of split feelings on this. Here’s my $0.02 worth. On one hand, I hatehatehatehate guns and don’t want them in my house, let alone in my kids school.
But, I live in Roane County, where hunting is like a religion, so pretty much everyone has a gun… or twelve… stashed in the house somewhere. It freaks me out to know that when my kids visit friends, they will probably eventually go to a home that has guns and maybe those guns are not locked up. Maybe it’s not a bad idea for kids to have a gun safety course, at least just to know how not to shoot yourself or accidentally shoot a friend.
When I was in Junior High (waaaaaaay back in the mid-80s) we had gun safety as part of phys-ed. I had no intention of going hunting or anything, but it was good to know how to pick up a gun, how to hold it safely, and to treat the gun as if it is loaded at all times, even if it’s not.
A kid from my parents’ church accidentally shot his baby brother and killed him, just because he found a loaded gun that was not locked up and wanted to pick it up and look at it. If teaching kids how to hold a gun safely in schools could have prevented that, I’m all for it. It doesn’t mean my kids will come home from school with guns, or somehow contract some sort of bloodlust just from learning about guns in schools. Learning gun safety sort of takes the mystery away from this deadly object and highlights the fact that guns are NOT toys and merely handling one carries with it a lot of responsibility.
I don’t like guns. I dont’ want them in my house. But I can’t rid the world of guns, so I’d rather my kids know how to handle them correctly if they ever have one thrust into their hands. Unfortunately, it happens.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
First, I am not a hunter but I do own a couple of guns. Until Dad’s passing they were kept at his house in a locked safe.
But the first gun was given to me by my Grandfather when I was about 10 years old. Why? To teach me respect for the danger of guns and how to properly take care of my own weapon. All of my relatives are hunters and sportsmen, I just never got into the hunting part but I still have complete respect for a firearm.
My Dad did the same for my little cousin, and would have done the same for my children had he been able too. I’m going to use the weapons that are in my house to teach my children the proper way to handle a gun and to respect the irreversable consequences they can have.
I don’t know that “school” is the right place for this to be taught or that I agree at all with the reason that West Virginia is considering this initiative. However, I think a parent-child event at a shooting range would be amazing. Give them an understanding of what this gun can and will do to things they shoot.
Of course, showing pictures of what a bullett will do to a bunny, deer, or even a body may not achieve the goals that the W.Va. legislature was hoping for.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Sarah, I have been thinking about this since I read this from you on twitter. I serve on a non-profit board in Ann Arbor, Student Advocacy Center and have for 8 years. We deal with kids getting expelled or suspended from schools for so much LESS than this. The web-site is http://www.studentadvocacycenter.org/
You should read the horror stories…
I am not against guns, just never owned one or shot one, but this is terrible. Is the community OK with it. What are the parents saying?
February 5th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Toby, I think you said very well how a lot of WV families feel about hunting safety and guns. It’s a parent’s right and responsibility to teach children that could possibly be in contact with guns. Hunting is a tradition in many families, and they take the safety training of their kids very seriously.
Missy, I just can’t wrap my mind around it — you’d be expelled if you brought a gun to school, but here — let me show you how to use this one, and I’ll even grade you on it. ???
Rebecca, thank you for showing us a very good case for the course. There are a LOT of houses with guns, and if training could save lives … well, that’s just an excellent point. I went to school with a boy who lost part of his leg in a hunting accident. There is probably not a person in WV who couldn’t tell you a sad story about kids and guns. I don’t know the answer, I just hate to think of guns being allowed in schools, even if they are disabled, and even if they are ultimately trying to keep our kids safe. It just gives me the “oogies”, best way I can say it.
Chris, Carole and Ines, I’m with you. I just want to keep saying no. Carole, that’s part of what bugs me about it, this is being done because WV needs money. Don’t make decisions about guns based on money. Bad idea.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Sarah,
Too many children in this country are babied, and parents now adays think they can protect their children from everything and try to keep them babies their whole lives. That’s why the drinking age has had to go steadily up from non existent to 21, people are getting married at 40, etc. etc.
Danger and responsibility are a part of life, and we all have to be taught that as soon as we’re old enough to walk.
By teaching children about guns, you are going a VERY long way to actually keeping them safe. Education about anything & everything is always a good thing. It de-mystifies things, teaches them respect, safety, etc etc. And I know you hate to think of your little baby going off to war one day or having to defend himself, you, your family, his family one day, etc. etc. but that is also all a part of life. You need to give him or her the tools and education to handle such things.
We are becoming a nation of, well, I hate to say it, but it must be said: wussies. Yes, wussies.
Stop babying them, let them become educated on the safety rules and dangers of firearms, and you’ll see them mature & grow in ways you could not have imagined.
Firearms are a tool, Sarah. And like many tools, they must be handled respectfully. Locked up safely when not handled with adult supervision, yes, but not locked away in the deep dark recesses of our fears, like some boogeyman. Only education can shed the light necessary to wipe away irrational fears like that.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
When I was 14 and under in 2004 I was completely ignorant to gun safety and did not know shit about guns.It took me almost four years of research and experiance to become a responsible and knowledgeable gun owner who knows more about guns and the laws then 80% of the people my age and even older in today’s society.
They should have offered a gun safety class in my middle school or at least freshmen year of high school so when they turn 18 they dont look like a moron when they go to a gun shop handling their first gun and not to mention buying a gun they know nothing about.
Education is the key to solving ignorance and inexperiance the internet works wonders when doing research but its always good to get hands-on experiance too.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Sarah,
Your readers and yourself are treating firearms the same way that people used to treat AIDS: with irrational fear and loathing.
Just like the only way to prevent deaths from that disease is thru education and understanding instead of hysteria, the same holds true for firearms.
Don’t teach your children that there is a monster under their beds.
Instead, explain to them that these are indeed dangerous things, but also useful things, but only when handled with respect and understanding.
Once they know how to use them safely, they become a useful tool.
And the only way to learn how to deal with them safely is thru education.
With that tool, everyone is empowered and kept safer.
Open the door and shine light on the situation; don’t try to hide it away in the closet. We are supposed to be the empowered generation, not the witch hunting one!
February 25th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
All right, Scrap, CPA and DM — :). I like to hear opposing views, but DM careful with the language, OK?
CPA, no irrational fears here, I applaud gun SAFETY in schools and think it is needed, very much so. TRAINING is what I’m questioning. I have been the victim of an armed robbery — he shot at me and missed by inches. My baby was four months old. Maybe you should know that so you can see where I’m coming from. I don’t care for guns.
I come from a family of State Troopers and I have great respect for the job they do. I know I couldn’t do it. My brother has trained me in using firearms and I am quite good, a natural shot. I have family members and close friends who hunt, and I have no problem with it — many of them donate to food pantries, so hunting does a LOT of good around here. My own kids have been trained in gun safety. At home and school.
Gun SAFETY should be taught in schools. Absolutely. I’m just not sure we need gun TRAINING in schools — especially since the state’s motivating factor was money, with the loss of revenue from hunting licenses.
Thank you for sharing your views. Are you guys in WV?
February 25th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Sorry, Scrap and CPA, just realized you’re the same person.
Gaming on my blog is cause for blackballing — no more or I delete, got it?
February 25th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Sorry to come in here Sarah but to compare fire arms and AIDS is absolutely ridiculous. What needs to be understood here is that we, as mothers are definitely pro-gun safety that’s not what this article is about.
Whether we are pro-guns or not, the whole idea of gun-training in school is uncalled for IMHO. As for gun safety, it’s up to the parents to decide when and where that happens, I would also be appalled if our school system made it a requirement.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Ines, gun safety will be a requirement, gun training is optional. But my teenager fears some kids in her school being trained, and I trust her judgment. She’s level headed and around these kids all the time, if she worries, I’m sure there’s a reason.
AIDS isn’t a big fear of mine. When we lived in Charlotte, I used to wait on a few customers at the bank who had AIDS. They appreciated that I smiled and them and treated them well, as they deserved, remembered their names and was happy to see them again. For one, I knew her family and mourned with them when she died. When I transferred to a branch across town, her family drove out of their way so that I could still wait on them. I know how much that meant to them.
Not that any of that had a thing to do with THIS topic, but there it is!
February 25th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I grew up around guns. My Step-Dad was a redneck, prune-pickin, beer-drinkin, diego from the CA Central Valley. ‘HE’ taught me to respect guns and handle them safely. We took a hunter’s safety course together. It was male-bonding at its best. But I definitely don’t think it’s something the school system should get involved in. Next thing you know, they’ll be passing out ammo along with the condoms.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Sparky, not that anyone asked me, but that’s the kind of thing I’d prefer to see around here. If you have guns in your house, one of the adults in your house should have taught you about them already. It shouldn’t wait for school. Part of it is bonding, and part of it is that you love your kids and keep them safe. You just do.
“Ammo along with condoms.” Oh, you DO push your luck, Mister!!
February 25th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Closing comments here. We have a nice sampling of opinions and we’re getting off the topic of West Virginia school electives. Thank you all for sharing your opinions on this matter!