W.Va. may offer gun training in schools

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080131/...wx2qBb.y.s0NUE


CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A significant drop in the number of hunters in West Virginia has left a hole in the state's budget, and one lawmaker thinks he has a solution: Allow children to receive hunter training in school.

Children as young as 10 years old are already eligible for hunting licenses in the state, but training courses are typically offered outside of school. Proponents of the plan hope embedding training during school hours boosts interest.

Seventh- through ninth-graders could opt for instruction in topics ranging from survival skills to gun safety, but the weapons would have dummy ammunition or be disabled. Sen. Billy Wayne Bailey, who introduced the bill this month, doesn't envision students firing real guns during class time.

"It's a way to take this kind of education in the classroom and make it more convenient for young people," said Bailey, a Wyoming County Democrat.

In the face of national concern about school violence, the presence of even disabled guns in school could seem incongruous, but some gun control advocates say careful supervision can ease concerns.

The primary concern of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is children with unauthorized access to guns, spokesman Brian Malte said, and the organization has no problem with supervised training programs.

"We let TV babysit our children," Bailey said. "This is a way to teach them there's a real consequence every time you pull a trigger."

West Virginia, where roughly 320,000 people participated in the recent two-week gun season for bucks, may be the only state contemplating such a bill, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

I have always thought this was an excellent idea! Glad someone is considering it.

I think if we are teaching kids about sex and how to protect themselves, even if they never want to have sex in their life, we should be teach kids about guns and how to stay safe around them, even if they never plan on being around guns.

It only makes sense to me.

FWIW, I was given the hunter's safety course in my elementary school. Real guns (dummy ammo) and all!

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1


"US state weighing gun lessons for schoolchildren"

West Virginia is considering a bill to teach schoolchildren how to handle a gun and hunt safely its proponent hopes will increase state revenues from hunting licenses, a state lawmaker said Thursday. "We will teach a hunting safety course during their physical education class," state senator and bill sponsor Billy Wayne Bailey told AFP. The courses would be imparted in secondary schools, from the eighth to 10th grade (13-16 years of age).

"They will learn gun safety, the proper use of fire arms. All the weapons will be disabled so there is no chance of discharging," he said, adding that the state Senate was expected to take up the bill next week.

"Hunting is an economic and cultural thing and we have seen a decline of hunting licenses over the past years," said the lawmaker, explaining that his bill would boost interest in hunting in West Virginia.
Children 10 years and older can already apply for a hunting license in West Virginia, which makes 1.5 billion dollars a year from hunting-related activities, the senator said.

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