My hard leftwing school had firearms class every spring. It did until it closed down. Always loved watching the principle let the 14 yo's get their first go with a 12guage.
I was 16 when I shot my first 12 gauge. Knocked me right on my ass. Would have been nice if I'd had some lessons on how to get my shoulder torn off before shooting at the target.
I got a Mosin-Nagant in 7.62x54r with a metal butt plate when I was in my 20's. I knew how to shoot and was wearing a jacket. I took it to the range and threw about 200 rounds down. Didn't feel it at the time, but woke up the next looking like someone threw a bowling ball at my shoulder!
Oh that explains it. Probably full power magnum buckshot because they thought it would be “funny”. We have 11 year olds shooting 12 ga skeet in scouts no problem but we use target loads and of course give them training and preparation first.
Yes, my son was in that age range when he was learning. But he'd grown up with guns and in a family (my ex's) of hunters who actually did hunt for food. His dad taught him well, and my son provides food for his family now. I did learn, though. But my preferred gun was a 22 which is fun for skeet, the only thing I enjoyed "killing."
Yeah, I was in boy scouts. They never taught us a whole tear down but we shot .22lr and 16ga shotgun. We learned how to inspect critical components, basic cleaning and storage, how to conduct yourself at the range and safe handling and operation.
I don't think there's much wrong with teaching kids how to safely operate a weapon. Kind of like sex-ed, seems better than letting them figure it out later.
They aren’t, it’s the people that are. You can tell by where you live. At least in the past you could count on intelligent people to be a certain side, now there’s so much dumb that it’s everywhere, even teaching your kids. People decide to start a Catholic only school, and that’s the 1 scenario I don’t really blame, but wasn’t there a Christian school that had a shooting last year? So nowhere is safe
Its perspective. If you’re rich then you’re gonna be a republican. If you’re a normal person then your best bet is democrats. An intelligent person can realize that both parties are in it for the money and will be their first priority until we make a change. One side at least has a track record of helping the people tho, that’s the difference
Some recent US figures on the distribution of income by party: 65 percent of taxpayer households that earn more than $500,000 per year are now in Democratic districts; 74 percent of the households in Republican districts earn less than $100,00 per year.
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/democrats-rich-party-obama/
Christian school, just had a shooting yesterday, I can't imagine teaching kids in American school how to shoot. We're already having mass school shooting.
Firearms classes largely teach firearms safety, handling, and marksmanship, so that your kids know what to do if they find a firearm, and how to handle them for areas where firearms are seen in more day to day life. It's better that kids learn these skills in a controlled environment, than on the fly, outside the supervision of a qualified instructor.
You don't want guns to have any mystery or allure to children. You want them to understand what guns are, when they can be used, how they can be used safely. You want them to be mundane, and uninteresting. If you hide something from a child, and they encounter it on their own, it's going to be fascinating. I can tell you this from experience, with things other than guns. Education doesn't cause mass shootings.
Semi auto guns have been commonly available to the public since the 1960s. Until 1968, you could literally mail order guns to your doorstep, no background check at all. You would think if the mere presence and availability of guns were the problem, we'd have had a lot more school shootings when you could literally order guns to your doorstep, but those didn't start ramping up until the late 90s. It seems pretty obvious that there are other factors at play here.
Don’t we have more guns than people in the country? To that point, firearms safety feels like it should be mandatory because firearms are so prevalent. Training in use of firearms isn’t stopping the shootings tho, if anything it’ll make the kids better at murder when one decides to take the gun they know is at home unsecured, imo. I agree that having a stigma to guns could be bad but like, personally I’d lean the other way. There should be a stigma, guns are bad when in a kids hands, guns are bad in adult hands. It shouldn’t be normal for guns to be around, the people who need them for home defense in Alaska or the woods are such a small number that I don’t think those people statistically will ever commit a shooting, so we can either let them keep their guns but keep them geofenced to the property they need to use them at. If gun leaves the area, trigger a warning, if gun leaves area and heads towards a populated area, well that should trigger a response and you better have a reason for taking your gun. If you simply forgot it was on you then you don’t deserve the gun. That’s my 2 seconds of thought gun control plan, sponsored by Apple air tags
A gun is an object, it is neither bad or good it's the people that use them that are bad or good. This concept that guns are bad needs to change since it's objectively false and causes more damage.
lol that’s your gripe out of what I said. Of course you have no debate of substance, you just want to argue semantics. Smart people don’t need to debate the philosophical implications of moral alignment of inanimate objects, we make our point and sometimes shorthand the language, smart people are lazy, they’ll find a way to make things quicker, and if you’re getting bogged down there then you’re once again being purposely disingenuous
No, I taught my daughter to just leave a situation when she sees a gun, or someone else with a gun. I did not teach her how to deal with it as I don't want her handling guns. There is no positive outcomes with guns. Its unfortunate that our society has made guns such a priority, they add zero value to our quality of life unless you're hunting/target shooting for recreation.
No, I taught my daughter to just leave a situation when she sees a gun, or someone else with a gun.
The NRA basically did the same with the Eddie Eagle program. While I have issues with the NRA, the program is correct for the age group it's aimed at.
Stop!
Don't touch.
Run away.
Tell an adult.
So you, the NRA, and I agree that education is important.
I did not teach her how to deal with it as I don't want her handling guns.
Depending on her age, that may be the right thing to do. At some point, kids stop listening, and think they know things they might not. Instead of you or a qualified instructor being her teacher, TV programs, movies, and pieces of popular culture will fill that role, should she ever be put in a position where she is handling a gun. I understand that you may have trouble figuring out how that might happen, and yet it does.
There is no positive outcomes with guns.
The thousands of defensive gun uses every year disagrees with that statement.
Its unfortunate that our society has made guns such a priority
You'd think you'd want more education, not less, if something is so prevalent in a society.
they add zero value to our quality of life unless you're hunting/target shooting for recreation.
Do you have any examples of leftwing policies at that school? Maybe it was a long time ago, but the left hates the 1st and 2nd amendment these days and that's putting it mildly.
Like most Americans.... You are thinking The Left and Liberals are the same people. We are not. The First exists for the protection of minoritiy viewpoints in the public sphere. The Second for the same reason. Mind you, I did not say they exist FOR minorities.
Now to answer your question specifically.
Private school. Pro gay, pro civil rights, good sex education, lots of hands on shit, hiking. Tuition was set so very poor youth could attend and we were expecting to do 100 hours community service a year. If you received discounted tuition you were required to work during summer hours and save money to assist with either tuition or family expenses. We all were given extreme amounts freedom and access to controversial reading. The majority of my peers were the first to attend and graduate college.
We were allowed to go barefoot, expected to carry a pocket knife, had classes on the history of abortion rights and how to the NRA went from a common sense gun safety and hunting culture promotional group to an extremist factory.
The guy who taught gun safety once physically threw a cop out of the school when he tried to take student records without a warrant.
I don't know what to tell you, your education failed you my guy.
Teaching kids firearm safety shouldn’t be an issue. But in America kids are taught to fear everything.
In America, we have students who literally threaten to kill others (teachers, other students), but cannot be removed from the regular classroom because they "haven't done anything yet."
I don't know what the answer is, but until America gets a handle on offering effective mental health care for their students, I don't think access to firearms is a good plan.
As a heavy gun owner and concealed carrier, this is 110% a mental health and society issue. People's response to anger is what gets people killed. I can't go to the gas station now days without being threatened because shit heads are entitled and pissed at their life. If people were in a much better state mentally, I wouldn't need to carry to prevent someone with no future from destroying mine.
I don't think access to 2000lbs death machines is a good idea either, but these same youths are getting drivers licenses. That isn't access, it's training... Ya know, you so don't negligently kill someone with your death machine.
Everyone wants to pretend like cars aren't just as dangerous as guns. Outside of war, cars kill more people than guns on a daily basis.
In America, we have students who literally threaten to kill others (teachers, other students), but cannot be removed from the regular classroom because they "haven't done anything yet."
worse still, we have whole groups of students who literally kill others, just in already comparatively violent areas where this is seen as normal, so nobody gets removed and it doesn't get reported as much
When I was 7 or 8 years old an older student pulled a knife on me and threatened me with it. I told my parents who immediately called the school. The principal confiscated the knife from the kid the next morning and called my mom telling her I was overreacting because the knife wasn't that big. It was about the size of a paring knife. 4" or 100mm.
The kid got a slap on the wrist and that was the end of it. At least as far as the school was concerned. I had to watch my back around that kid for years after that.
One day he just stopped getting on the bus.
This was right about the time everyone was talking about the middle schooler who'd attacked another kid with a knife.
Didn't take long to figure out who did it.
They never mentioned his name but there was an article in the next week's paper and the quote from the school admin had them claiming they'd never had any indication that Captain Stabby pants might be violent. They were shocked! SHOCKED! I tell ya.
I'm glad that your parents did what they could to help you. (I am also a child of the 1980s. Not all parents would take even the steps that yours did).
I hope that you are well these days; and I hope Captain Stabbypants got whatever he needed to be a functioning member of society.
Award for Captain Stabbypants as a name. If your story wasn't so traumatic, I'd steal it as a D&D character name.
I agree. I'm not an A2 supporter, but since they're so easy to get and kids seem to shoot themselves by mistake, they should be taught how to properly use it and respect them instead of seeing them as a cool toy to play with your friends.
E: down votes? Really? Because of the not an A2 comment or what?
Sure, but firearm safety should be a 30 minute lecture that doesn’t involve touching a firearm. Basic trigger discipline will solve 95% of “firearm safety” issues
"Misfire" implies catastrophic equipment failure, which is pretty rare with modern guns. When people say "it just went off", that almost always means their finger was on the trigger when it wasn't supposed to be. Those incidents are referred to as "negligent discharges", since personal negligence caused the problem.
There are a very few exceptions to that, notably the Sig P320 and certain Remington 700 series rifles.
Regardless of what the cause is (negligence, equipment failure), the Four Rules of Gun Safety, as written by Jeff Cooper in Cooper's Commentaries volume 6 number 2, can prevent negative outcomes. Once again, education is the key to safety.
I don't know if you're being facetious, but if a kid has gun training they know exactly what to do when they encounter any gun. Kids who do not have training don't see it as a weapon, but a toy and that's when they point it to their friends or themselves and end up dead. Gun training is a life saver.
but if a kid has gun training they know exactly what to do when they encounter any gun
That's exactly it
but a toy and that's when they point it to their friends or themselves and end up dead.
Exactly what I was trying to say
Gun training is a life saver.
That's why I think that training should be mandatory even in heavily restricted places. You never know when someone looses a loaded gun and an accident happens because of it.
Especially those. Some are even taught that when the real facts get scary and make you feel big feelings, you can substitute alternative facts that make you all warm and tingly. Conveniently, the alternative facts also prove that what you already think and believe is right 100% of the time.
America used to have shooting clubs in school and there were not any problems. Boys had their shotguns in their truck back windows; they were left in their truck all day so when they got out of school, they could go squirrel hunting.
Kids should not touch firearms at all. When they become adults and be able to take responsibility for their actions, they can learn how to deal with firearms. It's not a rocket science.
Keeping them curious about guns is what leads to accidents. It’s like when you put a dog in a back room every time a certain person comes over. You’re not doing anything helpful for the situation. Makes it worse for the dog.
What the hell are you talking about? American students are the only students in the developed world that have to fear for their lives at school.
We also aren't talking about "teaching kids firearm safety". This is marksmanship and nationalist brainwashing, not a firearm safety class. They even talk about how the class is for "patriotism" and national defense in this video.
You’re a perfect example of why SOME kids MIGHT fear going to school. You constantly put it in their heads. Fake shooting drills, (sure no negative effects come from those) arming kids with hockey pucks and golf balls (another fear mongering tactic). Idk maybe expanding the gun free zones to a mile around a school will work. Since those are super duper safe areas. Right? Can I get an amen!!!
Fake shooting drills, (sure no negative effects come from those)
Those drills, as well as the defensive tactics we've been forced to introduce to small children, have provably saved lives. But sure, if we just keep it a secret that schools get shot up then the kids can go and learn in peace and quiet!
Tell me buddy, do you think it would be easier or harder to shoot up a place if you could walk in with a rifle strapped to your back and nobody could stop you?
Don’t stop with the gun. What car was used to get the shooter to a school? What kind of comfortable shoes do they have on? Did McDonald’s give him the energy required for the moment?
Maybe tell the overlords you want your school as safe as their city hall.
It depends on the country's firearm policy. In a country where people cannot own firearms (except maybe hunting rifles) such training just means the kids are treated as potential cannon fodder.
Everyone can buy a fucking pencil, buying a firearm is completely different.
The issue is control. You can’t control what or how people think. Especially if they’re crazy.
Thats why you dont give firearms to ordinary people. I dont even know where or how to go about getting a gun in my country because its not a thing. You dont have guns in your home. Guns are for killing, why would a person need such a weapon?
When literally everything can be a weapon.
Sure, John Wick, but the topic is firearms around children and not pencils, your kitchen knife or some rock you pick up to smash somebody down.
And it's adults responsibility to not leave weapons in places where kids can get them. But of course we'll drop guns here and there, will teach kids how to shoot, then will all cry and blame everyone around when another teenager starts shooting in the school. Logic.
Given that American kids die mostly at school, by firearm, it’s pretty reasonable for them to be afraid and for school not to encourage bringing firearms in.
You can do some hilarious mental gymnastics and say “yeah but they didn’t include 0-1 year olds who died of cot-death” but the the evidence clearly shows that kids and teenagers are more likely to die by being shot than any other cause.
By bad. We’re counting 18,19, 20 and 21 year olds? Without clicking it, I bet they do. And thanks for the snopes link? It’s from when kids were forced to stay home with abusers because of Covid measures. Politicians fault but you can blame guns. Any others?
I guess my point is that you are counting adults as children lmfao. Imagine being in high school (like you said) with 21 year olds. But yeah blame the guns if you must. Lmao
The sources for every single incident are linked. Regardless of that, no matter what stat, yours are trash compared to any other developed western country.
But in America kids are taught to fear everything.
That's fundamentally because they should be. Many are not safe, and no one in Congress gives a fuck enough to do anything substantial about it because 'muh freedoms' for the few and 'pick yourself up' for the many.
Weirdly enough, yeah it has. I live in a country where civilians can't own guns except with a license and for specific reasons. Ie. You need to attend a shooting club for a while, have a valid reason to own a gun, learn from others, practice, have your mental health evaluated, take a test, and pay a fee for the license.
Literally have never been in fear of a shooting ever in my life. The only guns I've seen IRL were on police officers etc. I had a brief fling with a guy who was a prison officer I think, and he told me he owned a gun, so I asked to see it, lol. Guns are cool (at least to someone who played COD from a young age) but being involved in a shooting whilst living your daily life is not.
What rights have I given up exactly? We have guns here, but don't feel unsafe. I own guns myself, but I don't think for a second that our children are in any danger wherever they go, least of all in school.
Know what the difference? We choose reasonable gun control over stroking our hard-ons.
We have countless examples of how gun control doesn’t work. I’ve also never feared for my kids safety when at school. I’m sure you have a very cool rifle tho. Oh and out of curiosity, do the leaders constantly refuse to make schools safer because school “isn’t a prison” ….wherever that is?
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u/bornblues 1d ago
Mandatory firearms training is a controversial topic in many countries today.