I beat a lot of drums here at Bearing Arms, mostly because I can and I’m an opinionate schmuck who thinks he knows what’s best in life beyond crushing your enemies, seeing them driven before you, and hearing the lamentations of their women.
One that I’m particularly passionate about is teaching gun safety in schools.
While that used to be the purview of the family, too few families in this day and age actually do any such thing. Most parents don’t even seem to know all that much about it, based on the stupidity I see every day.
So, that means teaching kids in the schools.
Considering some of what makes it into today’s curricula, I think this is the least we can do.
And in North Carolina, they didn’t quite get to that point, but they are trying to use the schools to increase gun safety.
North Carolina leaders on Thursday will announce a new gun safety initiative for students.
The state Department of Public Safety will join Wake County Public School System leaders at 10:30 a.m. at Garner Magnet High School to introduce the new NC S.A.F.E. for Schools program, which includes safe gun storage resources specifically designed for parents, students and schools.
The program educates parents and students in school districts statewide by:
1. Introducing parents to safe firearm storage
2. Preparing parents for the winter holidays — including bringing students into unfamiliar environments with new people.
3. Encouraging conversation among parents
4. Sharing firsthand accounts of the importance of firearm safety
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and Wake County superintendent Robert Taylor will speak at Thursday’s event, along with leaders from the Garner Police Department, the PTA and the state Board of Education.
Parents can learn how to store firearms safely at home and on the go, how to talk to children about gun safety and how to make sure that schools and playdates are a safe environment from NC S.A.F.E. Download a free gun safety kit or request a free gun lock from Project Child Safe.
This isn’t the worst idea, but I don’t think it’s enough.
Proper gun storage is important, but taking a singular approach to gun safety is generally not the best idea. Focusing so much on storage fails to account for the fact that some people are just irresponsible jackwagons.
I’ve covered numerous stories of kids who found guns in places one wouldn’t expect a gun to be. For example, one in a dressing room in a department store. Another was found under a bush outside.
No, these weren’t properly stored, but that’s not on the parents of these kids. They’re generally not the people who left guns out, so all the gun storage efforts they put in place won’t stop a tragedy from happening if that’s all that they do.
It’s a start, and at least some of this might include some other gun safety discussions, such as what to do if a child finds an unsecured gun somewhere. I sincerely hope it does.
My kids understand gun safety. Yours probably do, too.
But too many kids don’t have that kind of influence in their homes, and considering the awful tragedies that can occur, it makes sense to take a few moments out of a discussion about transgender aemobas to talk about how you shouldn’t pick up a gun you find just lying around.
Read the full article here
