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Virginia May Bring NRA Gun Safety Classes To Elementary Schools
In addition to budget issues, Virginia lawmakers are looking at changes to various bills during Wednesday's one-day session, including a bill that brings gun safety programs to elementary schools.One of the bills calls for the Virginia Board of Education to "establish a standardized program of firearm safety education for students in the elementary school grades to promote the protection and safety of children." Once the program is created and made available, it will be up to individual school divisions to determine if they want to incorporate it into their classrooms. The legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of this move. According to the text of the bill, lawmakers require "that the program objectives incorporate, among other principles of firearm safety, accident prevention and the rules of the National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program." "Nothing about this program should make children curious about firearms, and we don't encourage children to own a gun. So, as to any of those kind of fears, I would say they're totally unwarranted," says Alexa Fritts, a spokeswoman for the NRA. The NRA program teaches kids if they see a gun, not to touch it, leave the area and to tell an adult about it. A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Education says employees haven't started putting the program together yet since lawmakers were still debating language of the bill Wednesday. The spokesperson says it's unlikely the board will have a program approved in time for next school year. Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-05-03 |
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