Readers Favor Nra Program For Preventing Gun Violence
Parents should be sure their youngsters are educated about guns, even if they have no firearms themselves.
That’s how two readers responded after Bagpipes asked for ways - other than gun control laws - to curtail the firearm violence that some physicians describe as an epidemic.
“My response would be: education, education, education,” said Christopher G. Alp of Ritzville.
Alp said kids’ natural curiosity about guns should be addressed in a responsible way.
“The National Rifle Association has an Eddie Eagle program that is just wonderful,” said Alp, one of two callers to cite it. “They teach a kid what to do if they ever find a gun: ‘Don’t touch, go tell an adult, etc.”’ The NRA program does not promote gun ownership, Alp said.
“And yet they are not allowed to teach this in schools. Why?”
He noted that schools include instruction about issues from drugs and sex to bicycle and traffic safety, but not how to deal responsibly with firearms.
“At an early age, parents teach their kids to look both ways, don’t talk to strangers, don’t play with power tools, etc. All these potential dangers are discussed in detail.
“And yet so many parents fail to discuss guns with their children, and maybe don’t have that much education about it themselves. Many tragedies can be averted with proper education,” said Alp, who would like to see the Eddie Eagle program in the schools.
“To borrow a line I once heard, ‘If just one life is saved, isn’t it worth it?”’
Similarly, Terry Frizell of Chewelah recommended education in general and the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program in specific.
“You’d be amazed at what that can do,” he said.
A Pennsylvania physician who likened gunfire on American streets to a war “is dealing with gunshot punks who shoot each other over drugs at street corners,” said Frizell. “You’re not going to stop that.”
Peter Dolina of Veradale said gun regulations are OK “as long as they go hand in hand with a crackdown on criminals.
“But as long as we spend our resources on coddling criminals instead of punishing and destroying them, as long as death row inmates have more rights than unborn babies, I suggest we leave the gun owners alone.”
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