Teaching Gun Safety in Schools Debate

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Teaching Gun Safety in School

Overview

The prevalence of firearms in its many forms across America is seen as a major factor in the recent tragedies involving massacres attributed to gun violence - public shootings where gunmen go into public places either focused on particular victims or choose their victims randomly - with names like Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, the Beltway Sniper and Columbine defining the very real risk and threat easy access to firearms deliver to society at large. In most cases, the psychological state of the gunmen show very real issues that, coupled with their social context have led them to paths of violence. But what is more worrying is the lesser discussed reality of gun violence in terms of numbers. According to Tomkiw (IBTimes, 2015) in 2015, "At least 423 people were killed in mass shootings in 2015." With the image of the tragedies from Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech now carved in our social consciousness, there is a belief that it is best to teach children gun safety so that they have a better understanding of what guns are capable of and what it takes to handle and be responsible for one. The idea of (Moore, 2015), "gun education and avoidance programs taught in public schools from kindergarten through middle school or even high school," appears to be something both proponents and opponents of gun control have a s a common ground with the former believing that doing so would be what it takes to make future gun owners responsible and can help in forming attitudes and practices to gun safety.

Pro

Many state governments have come to agree with this position and as a precaution. In Missouri for example Cuevas (2013) reported that Gov. Jay Nixon signed a measure on public safety that included teaching gun education. Cuevas wrote (2013) that the measure "encourages schools to teach gun safety to first-graders through courses such as the National Rifle Association's 'Eddie Eagle' Gunsafe Program." While it is not mandatory, the fact that it is seen as endorsed by the state has emboldened those who believe that it should happen. The NRA's Eddie Eagle program, ...