I think so. If you want to get kids off of guns and into books, teach them what guns can really do, and teach them the appropriate ways to utilize them.

My plan, which I plan to submit to the local school board for rejection (they're a bunch of idiots anyway), is to start children in the fifth grade learning marksmanship with air rifles once or twice a week to educate and familiarize them with the workings of a rifle and the necessary responsibilities that come with using such a weapon. I propose using air rifles up to the eighth grade, at which point I believe that .22 caliber rifles should be introduced, as well as lessons on exactly what guns REALLY do to people. From eigth grade through tenth grade, I propose assigning a participation grade (required for advancement barring physical disability) to all students and requiring them to at least COMPLETE the class each year to receive credit regardless of actual ability.

I believe this plan with have the following impact on our youth:

1. Air rifle shooting at a young age like 11 (5th grade) takes away some mystique surrounding weapons that many children see, and teaches them the basics of gun safety and utilization so as to take the "naughty" factor out of seeing, or touching a gun. Most children that grow up having learned the basics of gun safety, I posit, are unlikely to recklessly play with or use a parents' firearm if found.

2. Like most classes in elementary school, students will eventually grow bored of riflery and want to do "fun" things, like play soccer or throw a football around at recess. This takes the "fun" out of "gun" for a small child and encourages them to seek pasttimes that while indeed are often physically violent (football is not for wimps), do not create an aura of danger and intrigue around a class of objects (guns) that can be used for tragic purposes.

3. At the eighth through tenth grade levels, prior to upgrading them to an actual firearm chambered for an actual round, a class would be administered concerning safety, and then the consequences of the use of firearms recklessly or violently. Most children play violent video games, shoot pellets at cans, and watch violent movies and as a result tend to see a shooting as something theatrical, and not for the brutal reality that gunshot wounds often produce. By showing our children the human cost of misuse of a weapon, teaching them the safe way to use it, and then creating a discipline out of what Hollywood illustrates as cavlier (firing a weapon well requires a great deal of training), we can stop some senseless violence among oue young people.



It is a well-established fact that most teenage shootings occur in urban or suburban areas, where, coincidentally, firearms education and training are severely lacking. These kids don't grow up hunting or learning to shoot from Mom and Dad like the rural kids do, so they learn all about guns and how "cool" they are from the very idiots that are making our cities violent in the first place. If however our educational system can beat the bad guys to the punch, and teach our children early and often not only about the utility and dangers of firearms, but also their practical cost in terms of human life, I believe a great many children can be turned-off of owning and using guns for the wrong reasons.

Obviously safety and security concerns rear their ugly heads with this proposal, and they have been accounted for. High Schools across the country already have air rifle ranges on their campuses used by their JROTC programs, and with one notable exception, have functioned without incident for many years. They are overseen by former military officers and senior enlisted, and I remember when I was in high school, the worst times of my life involved having to sit through the hour-long safety briefing concerning the air rifles we were about to shoot. I simply want to expand this program to all students, since generally, your JROTC student is unlikely to be the one buying a gun on the street.

Those campuses without a JROTC program could hire or ask for volunteers from the local community of retired (or active if they have the time) police officers and military personnel. Ammunition, weapons, and the facilities in which to use them (.22LR ranges can be built out of a normal portable building used in many schools nationwide) should be paid for by public funds, and secured by whosoever the schools hire to administer the marksmanship program (provided they're qualified). All weapons should be single-shot only, and given the inexpensive nature of .22LR and .177caliber weapons, such a program poses almost no security or financial problems that cannot be overcome with basic steps to ensure safety and efficiency.

If we taught our kids early about what a firearm actually does, instead of letting Jack Bauer teach them, maybe we wouldn't have the gun violence problem that we have (overstated by the left though it may be). Implement this program, and I predict a drop in gun violence within 5 years.

Thoughts?

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"Bring me that horizon".

That sounds like a good idea. We were taught archery in P.E. when I was in school, and I really enjoyed it.

This is an excellent reason to teach marksmanship in school. Then if some parents disagree, their children can do something else, like shoot baskets or run around the track.

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Walter Mondale: "George Bush doesn't have the manhood to apologize." George Bush: "Well, on the manhood thing, I'll put mine up against his any time."

I think it is an excellent idea. It had never crossed my mind before.

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May your paradise always be green, you liberties always be full, and may the ignorance of you enemies not drive you to be pro-nuke.

"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself
into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and
trying to lift himself up by the handle."-Winston Churchill

Well, it's certainly an interesting idea. After all, if high schools have drivers' education then why not teach marksmanship in schools? Maybe schools could have shooting teams that compete with other schools.

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A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

I'll second (third?) that it's an intriguing idea. Obviously a safe, controlled envronment is preferable. I suspect that it would be more palatable if it was an elective course...

Have to give the idea some thought.

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Unfortunately, the Founders did not address the possibility of this nation becoming populated with obnoxious twits.

Great comments. My boy is in the Cub Scouts and they practice archery as well as shoot BB guns. Parents should focus on the important, not the trivial.

Well clearly we can't have teenagers roaming our schools with weapons. Retired police or military would be the instructors/armorers, and all weapons and ammunition would be secured like any other armory would. The idea is to re-sensitize kids to the reality of firearms, and I don't know of a better way to do that than to put one in their hands and teach them to use it properly. Generally speaking, the idiot Duke Nukem wannabes lose interest after the first safety lecture because they don't get to go rapid fire (how could they on a single shot rifle?) and kill some aliens.

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"Bring me that horizon".

Damn skippy. Too many parents worry like hell about PROTECTING their children from the outside world instead of PREPARING their children like they should. They won't teach their children about personal finance or mortality, but damned if they won't flip **** if their child gets his feelings hurt when he's cut from the marching band.

If DC would've educated their children about firearms from the start, there would've been no need for them to pass unConstitutional restrictions on weapons. Redneck kids don't shoot up the school, but city kids do despite MORE RESTRICTED access to weapons, funny how that works out. Take away the gun's mystique, and a lot of kids won't want to get one.

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"Bring me that horizon".

Some schools do have trap shooting teams already. But they are very few and far between. Usually the small country schools field these teams.

I have always advocated education in regards to firearms. Most everyone that I know is well aware if they ever want to go shoot, I am just a phone call away. If anyone here is a member of their child's PTA board and goes to school board meetings this would not be a bad idea to bring up. Get in contact with members of your local NRA and see if their rifle/pistol experts would be willing to volunteer their time.

I would bet the NRA would not only help with volunteer members also help fund such education.

__________________
May your paradise always be green, you liberties always be full, and may the ignorance of you enemies not drive you to be pro-nuke.

"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself
into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and
trying to lift himself up by the handle."-Winston Churchill