I had seen this video, but after being burned by BS stunts, I did not bother with it. It seems it was a real incident and the name of the young man was Rylo Huncho.
We can sit here and fill pages devoted to discuss the Four Rules and the insidious nature of Rap culture (or lack thereof) but I am actually going to go on a different path:
Gun Control Demands Ignorance About Gun Safety.
Yeah, I know, nothing new. This year the TN legislature introduced House Bill 2882 with the Senat companion SB2923 mandating the teaching of Gun Safety in schools. It passed some Democrat support and it was signed into law by the Governor.
And how the idea received by the usual suspects? Here are some samples:
Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, argued Thursday that the training requirement represents a hurried effort to address the symptom of a systemic problem, and lawmakers should be doing more to address the root cause.
…“But rather than deal with the fact that there are firearms that are negligently and recklessly left somewhere by adults, we’re trying to teach children how to deal with that negligence.”
Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville, argued the state should allow parents to opt their children out of the firearms training.
TN bill to require age-appropriate gun training in schools goes to Lee (tennessean.com)
Memphis-Shelby County School parents said they want firearm safety to be addressed, but the person responsible for teaching students is where they have different viewpoints.
“I respect that people want to bear arms, and that’s fine,” MSCS parent Jennifer Byerly Farrell said. “But I don’t feel that anyone else but me should be teaching my children about gun safety.”
…However, Byerly Farrell said she doesn’t allow her children to go places where this education would need to be taught in-school.
“I’m never going to have my children around guns,” she said. “I don’t like guns. I don’t own guns. If my kids want to go to someone’s house, I ask the parent if they own guns, and if they do, I generally don’t let my kids go.”
Tennessee House bill for gun safety in public schools passes | localmemphis.com
Others wanted to see an option allowing opt-outs.
“We should be able to have someone opt out of this if they don’t choose it’s appropriate for their child,” Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville) said.
That was met with vitriol from Republicans.
“We do not allow parents to opt their children out of fire safety training,” Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge) said. “We do not allow them to opt out of any other safety training that’s considered essential.”
TN bill mandates teaching firearm safety in schools (wkrn.com)
Rep. Justin Pearson (D – Memphis) also proposed four amendments, one of which would have specifically excluded the National Rifle Association from being used to create gun safety lessons. He said the NRA is specifically not “viewpoint neutral.” Another would have allowed parents to opt out children for any reason, similar to Rep. Powell’s amendment.
The bill drew sharp criticism from Democrats on the committee, who argued that parents should have the opportunity to opt their children out of the training, and that the training could be insensitive to students who have had past or familial experiences with gun violence.
“I just think that we’re setting some kids up for a very rough time, unnecessarily,” Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, said. “When kids ask questions, they’re going to talk about gun violence, and they’re going to talk about these things and I don’t know how the person who’s doing this training is supposed to address gun violence in a neutral way.”
I do firmly believe that they oppose this bill and any kind of gun safety education because they can exploit children’s death for their own political and pecuniary purposes: Dead Kids Bring Cash to their pockets and gets them re-elected.
yeah, hiding things from kids is a really good idea…. just another example of the dumbing down of America… rather than teach kids how to handle a possible dangerous item safely lets hide them from it… ps parents- ask your kids about stuff they find in the house when you aint home…. do you ask other parents if thier house has drugs or alcohol in it??? stupid will be painful..
Also, people are more likely to fear what they do not understand.
Ask parents if they have table saws, circular saws, chainsaws, weed whackers, chef’s knives, etc. at their house. Don’t let your kids go there if they do. Dangerous devices the kiddos may play with!
“If my kids want to go to someone’s house, I ask the parent if they own guns, and if they do, I generally don’t let my kids go.”
Excellent idea. In fact, keep your kids and yourself far, far away from mine because ignorance leads to irresponsbility and your and your kids’ ignorance poses a liability to my kids and family. And, rest assured my kids won’t be at your house either, because before my kids visit I will determine if your kids have received instruction in and can demonstrate firearm safety.
How much of a liability? I just moved my attorney’s phone number to speedial postion #1 because my kids may encounter your kids on the playground after school or at a weekend party.
That said, I do have reservations about handing responsibility for gun safety training over to the Union-Owned Education Industrial Complex; it needs to be delivered factually and completely, without bias of any kind, in age appropriate formats over a number of years, and at some point, accompanied by actual hands-on experience. What the best solution is, I’m not sure, and I am not suggesting anything like NRA involvement for direction of the instruction (although the Eddie Eagle program is excellent, it comes with the NRA imprimatur which is so off-putting to a lot of people it may not be possible to mentally or emotionally get past that roadblock to learning).
I find it interesting that, probably, many of the same people who have no objection to teaching elementary school age children how to put a condom on a banana, and urge their kids to sign up for Drivers’ Ed, are so strongly opposed to learning, understanding and practicing The Four Rules.
Parents teach children to swim. They teach children how to cross the road. They teach children to ride a bicycle. Children drown, get run over, and fall. But, parents teach them about these activities and the dangers.
.
But, for some reason, parents think that pretending guns do not exist is the way to keep their children safe? Is there a name for this delusion? Or does “stupid” cover it?
.
Even if you do not have guns, and will not let your children watch TV/Movies with guns in it, you should teach them that guns exist. And, if they see one, to do as Eddie Eagle says. “Do not touch it, run away, and tell an adult.”
.
What is a more rational approach? I choose to teach every child about guns, and ensure they do not touch them.
If they want parents to be able to opt out for their kids, then that opt out document should require notarization and go on file to hold the parent legally criminally responsible (at least criminally negligent) for any gun related crime/accident that the child is physically responsible for until at least the age of majority. They already have similar types of laws in some places with regard to safe storage laws, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to flip it on parents who are scared of guns and so refuse to train, or allow their children to be trained, to treat firearms with proper respect and care.
There should also be an out of school option for the safety training that would be a defense against prosecution for said criminal liability. Those whiny CCW permit course instructors could get certified and teach kids gun safety courses which would be a much greater community service than whining about constitutional carry. In any state that permits home schooling (all of them?), at home courses should also be developed/certified for parents to be able to document meeting the requirements. This would also mirror teenage Learn-to-Drive laws with multiple avenues to get the required training. In Texas we have had approved teach at home driving instruction curriculum for over 25 years (granted, driving courses aren’t required school curriculum, but I think the idea could be adapted well for firearm safety courses).
Well, the gene pool will be a bit cleaner.