I had asked Senator Gabbard to sponsor a (mandatory) gun safety training in public schools bill, but he declined. Got this email today from an Idaho legislator who is sponsoring "optional" firearms safety training in schools bill there. That photograph says a lot about how our country has changed. Can you imagine the outrage today if is someone in the deep blue states (such as Hawaii) actually took firearms into classrooms of young students to help educate them and make it less likely that they would be injured or injure someone else with a firearm? I remember Justice Scalia writing that in the 1950s he took his rifle to school with him on the New York subway system... without incident. Hawaii is about as far away from that as imaginable... I mean except for China or Iran etc. (where the dictators make no pretense of not supporting and enforcing total civilian disarmament).

Rep. Ronald Nate - District 34
 
Gun Safety Classes in Schools



Life Magazine - March 1956

   The picture above is from the March 1956 issue of Life Magazine and it shows a classroom of youngsters in Indiana learning about guns and gun safety from a police officer.  In the modern era of school shootings and growing gun ownership, many states are returning to gun safety classes in schools.

   Currently, at least 11 states allow for gun safety classes in public schools from elementary school through high school.  One state allows for gun safety classes in high school only.  I am working on a bill to allow and encourage school boards to approve gun safety classes for Idaho schools.  The bill is simple and it doesn't mandate gun safety classes, it only encourages school boards to consider providing them as electives for secondary students. If successful, we can look toward expanding the program to primary schools as well.

   There are several national education programs directed toward kids in kindergarten through 3rd grade.  The focus is on what to do when in the presence of a gun.  Many kids who have not grown up around guns, have a natural curiosity about them.  The early gun safety classes teach them to Stop, Don't Touch, Leave the Area, and Tell an Adult.  The program has demonstrated success.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, the National Rifle Association's Eddie-the-Eagle program has reduced incidental firearm-related deaths among their children participants by more than 80%.

   Even if kids don't have guns in their home, there's a significant chance they will encounter them in the homes of their friends or in other situations.  Teaching them the proper dangers and cautions will help keep them and their friends safe.  Many gun safety programs also teach about active shooter situations and what to do.  This is valuable training for when and if such a horrible incident might occur in Idaho.

  The Idaho bill to encourage school boards to offer elective courses in gun safety is currently in the House Education Committee, and it was successful in its introduction hearing today--a full hearing should be forthcoming.  Hopefully Idaho can join the other states in adding to child safety by teaching them the basics about guns and gun safety.  It can be a life saver.

I have always felt the best 'common sense' gun control is gun education.  And really, it's 2nd amendment education -- something our schools should be teaching anyway! Kids should be learning about the Constitution in its entirety, along with why we even have it.  Even if a household never plans to have a firearm, its members should still be educated in guns if for no other reason than to be able to recognize a potentially dangerous situation when someone else has one and is handling improperly. 
 
I remember 30-40 years ago in school, it was no problem if anyone had a shirt with a graphic depicting a pistol or rifle.  Kids used to bring their dad's Soldier of Fortune magazines to school.   But a couple months ago I got a stern talking to by one of my son's pre-school teachers because on "show and tell" day, he brought in a little Star Wars action figure of a Storm Trooper.  The problem? It was holding a rifle that shoots fricken laser beams!  That counted a gun related paraphernalia.  Our whipped society has gone so far backwards over the years, it's insane.

Growing up on Molokai in the 1960s, I always had a 30-06 in the pickup I drove to school.  Never knew when you might see a deer standing along side the road or one of the guys wanted to go hunting after school.  You could drive through Kaunakakai in an open Jeep with rifles sticking in the air and cops wouldn't even bother.  Can't do that over there today, you will get arrested.  Times have certainly changed.

I remember when we had rifle ranges on school campus

I can image the flack the schools will get in Hawaii if they do this.  Parents already complain about sex ed.

Just hope they don't call this guy...

I...would actually be opposed to this, especially if the gun safety classes were mandatory (I wish everything were optional in education). I am also opposed to sex ed and mandatory PE swimming (coincidentally someone else recently posted in another thread that pools cause more deaths among children than guns). But since we do have sex ed and mandatory PE swimming, it's only fair to have mandatory gun safety too!

I...would actually be opposed to this, especially if the gun safety classes were mandatory (I wish everything were optional in education). I am also opposed to sex ed and mandatory PE swimming (coincidentally someone else recently posted in another thread that pools cause more deaths among children than guns). But since we do have sex ed and mandatory PE swimming, it's only fair to have mandatory gun safety too!

So, you also oppose mandatory fire safety education?  What about mandatory Driver's Education for under 18 to get a license?  Motorcycle safety training? 

While some of these are only for people intending to pursue the associated activities, many are for general "be prepared" purposes.  We teach first aid, CPR, fire safety, how to identify poisonous plants and animals, etc, etc.  We don't base it on anything other than "it might save your, or someone else's, life one day."

If we want "gun safety", then we should educate, not confiscate.

Mandatory motorcycle safety training...in regular schools? I did have a little bit of firearms education in elementary school. We took a field trip to the police station and they let us hold unloaded pistols.

People should be careful about forcing others to "learn" things. You can show me how to do CPR but you can't force me to perform it when the need arises. You might show one kid how to "behave safely" around firearms. The same "lesson" might show another kid exactly how to kill people with firearms. When I was a little kid, my uncle on the Big Island tried to start teaching us about hunting, but one kid hurt another.

Mandatory motorcycle safety training...in regular schools? I did have a little bit of firearms education in elementary school. We took a field trip to the police station and they let us hold unloaded pistols.

People should be careful about forcing others to "learn" things. You can show me how to do CPR but you can't force me to perform it when the need arises. You might show one kid how to "behave safely" around firearms. The same "lesson" might show another kid exactly how to kill people with firearms. When I was a little kid, my uncle on the Big Island tried to start teaching us about hunting, but one kid hurt another.

Many more kids in the country are taught firearm safety and how to shoot, and nothing bad happens.  I don't know your uncle, but as far as schools go, they should only have competent, experienced teachers instructing the kids.  I also don't know how old the kids were when one was hurt.  There needs to be a minimum age for teaching firearm use.  I would think teaching hunting and teaching firearm use and safety, while they have some overlap, are two different sets of overall objectives.

And for the motorcycle training, there are lots of high school and college students who ride scooters and motorcycles.  You need an endorsement on your driver's license to ride a MC on the street, which requires passing both written and hands-on riding tests.  The courses are taught all the time at Leeward CC and on Hickam.

I look at things like this from a basic level.  If something can injure or kill you, it makes sense to educate people to recognize, avoid, and deal with that danger before they have a need to. 

Beyond the safety benefits of learning to treat guns with respect, there's the confidence and fun involved.  My girls were shy to pick up guns at first, but over time, they became more proficient which built self-esteem and confidence in mastering something that requires knowledge, skills and practice.  They also know they can use a gun for self defense if the need arises.  That's also a confidence builder.

Any teachers here?

Maybe they could ask the police department to have an officer come teach gun safety.

Any teachers here?

Maybe they could ask the police department to have an officer come teach gun safety.

That's how you end up with the example of the "only ones" shooting themselves in foot in the classroom (video linked above). The teacher of firearms safety needs to be a person specifically trained to teach a specific curriculum designed by professional curriculum designers, not just some person familiar with "gun safety". The NRA's Eddie Eagle program is just such a program, though it is a one time (annual) presentation for lower elementary grades. That program is "If you see a gun: Don't Touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult." A "hands on" program would be for older children and young adults.

I had asked Senator Gabbard to sponsor a "mandatory" gun safety bill because of the structure of Hawaii's school districts (far different than Idaho's in the bill initially referenced) and that if given the "option" whether or not to teach the class in either individual schools (at principal's discretion) or individual classrooms (at teacher's discretion) that it'd be likely that very few would opt to teach the class (but I could be completely wrong on that, just basing that on the heavily "progressive" orientation of most of Hawaii's population).

I know so many adults who have the attitude of "Why take the chance if it's not necessary?  You'll shoot your eye out!"

They are afraid of guns and don't see any use for them.  "I lived my whole life, and never had a need for one."

Hard to argue with anecdotal wisdom like that, especially when you HOPE you never have to use a firearm to stop a threat.

Cops carry guns, and the vast majority never shoot anyone.  Maybe Cops carrying guns isn't worth the risk?

Libertarian stance on 2A -- Individuals have the right to choose for themselves whether or not they want to own or be knowledgeable about firearms.

Conservative stance on 2A -- Guns provide safety and reduce violence in the world. Everyone must be knowledgeable about firearms!

Liberal stance on 2A -- Guns are dangerous and increase violence in the world. Only authorized people can own or carry firearms...

I was interested in putting together an event for the Children Youth Day at the state capital, it's an event with 50,000 attendees who do fun and educational activities.

I was thinking about getting an air rifle or air soft event there, and getting NRA to help support with educational materials.

http://www.hawaiicyd.org/

Anyone attend this before?

Libertarian stance on 2A -- Individuals have the right to choose for themselves whether or not they want to own or be knowledgeable about firearms.

Conservative stance on 2A -- Guns provide safety and reduce violence in the world. Everyone must be knowledgeable about firearms!

Liberal stance on 2A -- Guns are dangerous and increase violence in the world. Only authorized people can own or carry firearms...

You're referring to adults. Six-year-olds don't have the knowledge or cognitive and reasoning capabilities to make sound decisions about such things (yeah, I know, some 50-year-olds don't either!)..

You'd might as well say "Libertarians believe that parents have the right to determine whether or not their children learn about the dangers of fire, drowning, sharp objects, looking both ways before crossing the street, tasting things in bottles under the sink, etc." I'm sure, in today's educational climate, that parents would have the option to have their child not attend any firearms safety class.

That's how you end up with the example of the "only ones" shooting themselves in foot in the classroom (video linked above). The teacher of firearms safety needs to be a person specifically trained to teach a specific curriculum designed by professional curriculum designers, not just some person familiar with "gun safety". The NRA's Eddie Eagle program is just such a program, though it is a one time (annual) presentation for lower elementary grades. That program is "If you see a gun: Don't Touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult." A "hands on" program would be for older children and young adults.

I had asked Senator Gabbard to sponsor a "mandatory" gun safety bill because of the structure of Hawaii's school districts (far different than Idaho's in the bill initially referenced) and that if given the "option" whether or not to teach the class in either individual schools (at principal's discretion) or individual classrooms (at teacher's discretion) that it'd be likely that very few would opt to teach the class (but I could be completely wrong on that, just basing that on the heavily "progressive" orientation of most of Hawaii's population).

I am pretty sure they have trained firearms instructors in the police department but the idea was just for a teacher to take the initiative themselves and include it in their curriculum. Of course a trained firearms instructor would be preferable to your average cop or enthusiast.

Libertarian stance on 2A -- Individuals have the right to choose for themselves whether or not they want to own or be knowledgeable about firearms.

Conservative stance on 2A -- Guns provide safety and reduce violence in the world. Everyone must be knowledgeable about firearms!

Liberal stance on 2A -- Guns are dangerous and increase violence in the world. Only authorized people can own or carry firearms...  Only those with the same ideals may control firearms, so that they may FORCE others to believe as they do.

FIFY

Agreed, that's the reason I wrote "..." for the liberals. I was trying to be somewhat impartial in the descriptions.

On the other hand, liberals can get themselves out of that trap if they support 1A perfectly and correctly, without exceptions. They are a far cry from that, however. (Unfortunately at present, conservatives seem to have equally poor support for 1A. Only libertarians are supporting 1A).