Perhaps it’s the catchy tune and quirky animation that makes an NRA video about gun safety appear more entertaining than educational.
Eddie Eagle, the National Rifle Association’s spokesbird, and a cast of animated characters sing and dance their way through an eight-minute skit designed to teach children what to do if they happen upon a firearm. In this case, a handgun is discovered in a backpack, upon which Eddie breaks into a song, warning his friends not to touch the device and to go find a grown-up.
On Tuesday, Rep. John Whitmer, R-Wichita, recommended Kansas schools teach gun safety to elementary students and endorsed the NRA curriculum.
“Guns aren’t going away,” Whitmer, an avid gun rights advocate, said before the Federal and State Affairs Committee.
Currently, high schools that provide gun safety instruction typically use a hunter-training course provided by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.
For the uninitiated, talking about guns can be intimidating. If you’re a young parent, you need to get over that. It’s important that you know if your child’s friends have guns in the house and whether they are stored safely. Parents who care, won’t be offended if you ask. The emphasis is on safety, not politics. A child’s well-being is not worth the risk of not knowing whether firearms are out of harm’s way.
Because of the prevalence of violence on TV, movies and video games, children know exactly what to do with a gun, experts say. They see a ball, they bounce it. They see a gun, they point and shoot.
WITH GUNS becoming as commonplace as cell phones, it behooves us as a society to warn our children as early as possible of their inherent dangers.
To use the NRA as a resource, however, is not a little unsettling. Watch the video closely and you’ll note the danger of guns is glossed over. Never does Eddie say guns can kill people, when, in fact, every day in the United States seven children are killed by guns and 1.7 million children live in a home with a loaded, unlocked gun, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
The purpose of the NRA is to spread gun ownership. Using its materials in our public schools would tie in very nicely with that goal.
— Susan Lynn
