Education…what a concept

Gun safety education can make a difference

A law is only as effective as the degree to which people know about and understand it. Tell that to a father in Michigan, who was just charged under the state’s new safe storage law after his 8-year-old son tragically shot himself with an unsecured gun last month. With states like Alabama and Minnesota considering similar legislation, requiring the safe storage of firearms in areas accessible to children, the education of gun owners is critical.

To that end, a Michigan proposal would require public schools to distribute information to parents about the law, which was signed last year. Under the bill, schools also would share best practices for storing firearms, as well as information on where to obtain gun safes and gun locks. The legislation is strongly supported by parents of victims and survivors of the Oxford High School and Michigan State University school shootings. We like it too.

And speaking of education, it’s not just for parents. Lawmakers in Tennessee recently passed a bill that would require gun safety lessons in schools, in an effort to reduce accidental shootings and foster responsible attitudes toward guns among youth. It’s an evidence-backed idea. An Ohio State University study found that a gun safety video reduced the risk of unsafe behavior with a found gun among children who viewed it.

Ashley Hall, coordinator of shooting sports for 4-H in Washington state, who is assisting the CDC with another study of kids and guns, says, "[The kids are] coming to me already interested in this topic. Firearms, handguns, rifles, hunting, military—all this stuff already exists in this world. And my job is to teach them to be adults in the world that they actually live in—not the one I wish they lived in." Realism…common sense…responsibility…all equally as important as laws.