CyborgWarrior
03-24-2010, 07:44 PM
http://www.capweek.com/stories/032410/spe_595670967.shtml
Gun safety needs to be taught in schools
By Corby Abel Floyd Dryden Student | Capital City Weekly
Picture yourself as a small child happily playing with a strange, new toy in you house. A moment later you're crying in the corner. You just shot your best friend. If you're an adult with kids you're probably thinking, "That couldn't be my kid...my kid would never do that." But what if your kid wasn't the one with the gun? Too many children don't know what to do around guns. All schools should institute gun safety classes.
If people knew how to use guns safely the number of gun related accidents would decrease dramatically. A 12-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 6-year-old cousin. If this boy had been taught gun safety his cousin might be alive today. And again in 2005 another 12-year-old boy was shot and killed while playing with a friend. I ran into too many stories like those. All of these could have been prevented if the child with the gun had known what to do with it. We've come a long way from the 1,501 deaths in 1908 caused by gun accidents, but we still have a long way to go. We can't stop until every child can make the right decision in a bad situation. Not only would the teaching of gun safety classes in schools prevent deaths, and injuries from gun accidents, but it would also prove that we shouldn't be focusing on gun control.
Gun control is not the problem. "How [guns] are used is up to the person holding it...a violent person doesn't need a gun to be violent," said a writer on topics-mag's Web site. The Second Amendment of the Constitution states, " A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right o the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Even if it was the right thing to get rid of guns altogether we would be contradicting the Constitution. People have the right to own a gun. Gun control wouldn't be a problem if people knew how to use guns; Floyd Dryden Middle School students agree.
Floyd Dryden students think that gun safety is important to be taught all over the country. Over 75% of students who went through a gun safety program think that it should be taught in schools throughout the United States. Mr. Milliron, principal at Floyd Dryden, and a supporter of gun safety said, "Guns are part of our culture...I think that you should go through firearm safety [before buying a gun]...I'm pleased with how many government volunteers take their time for the program." Milliron helped to get Floyd Dryden involved in the gun safety program. Mr. Casperson, a teacher at Floyd Dryden, agrees with Milliron: "Learning how to properly handle firearms at a young age is good." He was sure that they should be taught in Alaska, because "A lot of families have [guns] in homes... If it helps one kid [make the right decision around a gun] its certainly worth it." All schools need to be teaching gun safety. Gun related accidents would decrease, people would stop focusing on gun control, even students agree that gun safety should be taught. With gun control education in schools, more kids and even adults will make the right decision when dealing with guns. It would save lives, trips to the hospitals, and terrible memories.
Corby is a student at Floyd Dryden Middle School in Juneau, Alaska.
His school principals email address is millirot@jsd.k12.ak.us
Gun safety needs to be taught in schools
By Corby Abel Floyd Dryden Student | Capital City Weekly
Picture yourself as a small child happily playing with a strange, new toy in you house. A moment later you're crying in the corner. You just shot your best friend. If you're an adult with kids you're probably thinking, "That couldn't be my kid...my kid would never do that." But what if your kid wasn't the one with the gun? Too many children don't know what to do around guns. All schools should institute gun safety classes.
If people knew how to use guns safely the number of gun related accidents would decrease dramatically. A 12-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 6-year-old cousin. If this boy had been taught gun safety his cousin might be alive today. And again in 2005 another 12-year-old boy was shot and killed while playing with a friend. I ran into too many stories like those. All of these could have been prevented if the child with the gun had known what to do with it. We've come a long way from the 1,501 deaths in 1908 caused by gun accidents, but we still have a long way to go. We can't stop until every child can make the right decision in a bad situation. Not only would the teaching of gun safety classes in schools prevent deaths, and injuries from gun accidents, but it would also prove that we shouldn't be focusing on gun control.
Gun control is not the problem. "How [guns] are used is up to the person holding it...a violent person doesn't need a gun to be violent," said a writer on topics-mag's Web site. The Second Amendment of the Constitution states, " A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right o the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Even if it was the right thing to get rid of guns altogether we would be contradicting the Constitution. People have the right to own a gun. Gun control wouldn't be a problem if people knew how to use guns; Floyd Dryden Middle School students agree.
Floyd Dryden students think that gun safety is important to be taught all over the country. Over 75% of students who went through a gun safety program think that it should be taught in schools throughout the United States. Mr. Milliron, principal at Floyd Dryden, and a supporter of gun safety said, "Guns are part of our culture...I think that you should go through firearm safety [before buying a gun]...I'm pleased with how many government volunteers take their time for the program." Milliron helped to get Floyd Dryden involved in the gun safety program. Mr. Casperson, a teacher at Floyd Dryden, agrees with Milliron: "Learning how to properly handle firearms at a young age is good." He was sure that they should be taught in Alaska, because "A lot of families have [guns] in homes... If it helps one kid [make the right decision around a gun] its certainly worth it." All schools need to be teaching gun safety. Gun related accidents would decrease, people would stop focusing on gun control, even students agree that gun safety should be taught. With gun control education in schools, more kids and even adults will make the right decision when dealing with guns. It would save lives, trips to the hospitals, and terrible memories.
Corby is a student at Floyd Dryden Middle School in Juneau, Alaska.
His school principals email address is millirot@jsd.k12.ak.us