Keep kids safe with firearm safety instruction

This is a reply to the disinformation/misinformation in the article regarding House File 654 that would direct gun safety and hunter education being taught in the public schools. One of the concerns is who will teach these subjects. The implication is that anyone involved or certified by the NRA would be nothing other than shill for the NRA. Let me clarify a few things.

First, hunter education instructors are all volunteers who have had a background check by the DNR and have gone through an instructor workshop and been mentored by experienced instructors.

The hunter education curriculum is set by the DNR. It heavily stresses hunter responsibility and ethics, gun safety, marksmanship, game care, wildlife management, hunting laws and regulations (taught by DNR officers), and other related topics.

Back in the day, hunter education was taught in the high schools and no kids died or turn into mass killers. And yes, there were firearms present as part of the course curriculum. Then as now, no live ammo was present in the classroom.

As for gun safety, one of the sections in HF 654 is for school districts to develop an age-appropriate model program for firearms safety instruction for K-12. The model program for K-6 would be based on the Eddie Eagle program developed by the NRA. The Eddie Eagle program’s sole goal is to keep kids safe around guns, period. The program’s message to the kids is if they find a gun: Stop, don’t touch, leave the area, and find a responsible adult. As things sit today, the Eddie Eagle Program is the only course that already fits the parameters of the law. The information taught to all Iowa students would be the same, district to district. One cannot say that about the normal curriculum in Iowa schools in areas of reading, math, science, history, technology and the like. There is nothing taught to promote firearm ownership or any sinister political message in the Eddie Eagle material.

Regarding NRA firearm courses, the lesson plans involve teaching the firearm discipline; how the firearm operates, parts of the firearm, firearm handling, gun safety, ammunition, firing sequence, basic marksmanship skills. These courses stress responsible gun ownership and the Second Amendment.

The 125,000 certified NRA Firearm Instructors are the leading advocates for gun safety and responsible firearm ownership, period. It’s about teaching the next generation safe and responsible firearm ownership.

Kids are eventually going to encounter a firearm at some point in their lives. There are hundreds of millions of guns in private hands and residences in the U.S. alone. The various anti-gun organizations run by Mike Bloomberg, George Soros, Gabby Giffords, etc. all have at their hearts set on banning and destroying the right of Americans to keep and own the firearms of their choice as put forth in the Second Amendment and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Since firearms are an inevitability, other than an actual responsible parent, who would be better to teach anyone firearms safety than an organization that has been dedicated to just that since 1871?

So, before you vilify an organization based on rhetoric, get the real facts to make an informed decision. The focus should be on informing and educating kids to be knowledgeable and safe around firearms.

John Allen of Robins has 40 years’ experience training and certifying NRA Firearms instructors and Range Safety Officers. He has also served as a volunteer Iowa Hunter Education instructor for over 35 years.