Larry Simoneaux expected that some of his readers would have to take deep breaths after reading his April 30 recommendation that public schools include gun-handling in their curriculum. (Column, “Here’s an argument waiting to get started.”) He was right. But now that I have recovered, might I mention that the most recent gun “accidents” I have read about have involved children under the age of eight? At what level should we offer these classes? First grade? Kindergarten? (Children, we’re doing something a little different for circle time today…)
Perhaps, instead of pandering to the NRA folk, we should devise real solutions to the recent problems of children handling guns with tragic results. The problem? Many adult gun-owners should never have been allowed to own these weapons, either because they were too careless, too angry, or too drunk. How does our society screen those people before allowing them to endanger the rest of us? Umm … we don’t. Solution? Before any citizen is allowed to own a firearm, they must do two things. One, provide documentation of having successfully completed a safety course which not only covers loading and firing, but safe storage of firearms. Two: Take both a knowledge test and a skills test to prove that they are capable of responsibly owning an instrument whose only purpose is death. We need to take this seriously. We demand this sort of assessment for people to be allowed to drive cars. Is it really too much to ask that we demand the same for using guns?
The middle school where I work posts a message at the front door: This is a zero-tolerance zone for weapons. That is as it should be. Don’t ask public schools to fix yet another of society’s failures.
Gina Parry
Snohomish
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