No public agency in Central Florida — not the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orlando Police Department, local branches of the state Health Department or the Florida Safety Council — routinely holds classes on gun safety.

“Might that be a gap?” asked Ralls, Orange County’s medical director. “Maybe.”

via Gun accidents in Florida are double the national average | jacksonville.com.

In the mid 90s, Anti Smoking groups latched on Joe Camel and accused tobacco companies of making a cool cartoon to sell more cigarettes to minors. After the campaign turned successful, Gun Control groups applied a variation of the same to the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program.

Utilizing the Guilt by Association approach (Both cartoons from hated industries therefore both HAVE to be bad) and with open complicity from the media, a full fledged attack was launched against Eddie Eagle.  The Violence Policy Center (back them when they were relevant) called it “a thinly-disguised marketing tool for itself and the gun industry.” even though there has never been one iota of marketing or even mention of gun ownership in any of the Eddie Materials.

The volume of the scandal was such that many schools which were ready to have the program (free of charge I might add) taught to the kids, decided to cancel it. Millions of kids that could have benefited from learning what to do and not to do when encountering a gun, went on apparently “safer” in ignorance.

Now I read the article above and have to laugh that the media is discovering that perhaps a gun safety program might be necessary  but back then gun safety classes were at best controversial, specially in places like Chicago.

At least we know that Kids in Chicago are much much safer now without the evil influences of Eddie eagle, right?