More Gun Safety Education

In July, the local paper published an editorial about a recent child-shooting tragedy. I believe all schools should include a few hours of age-appropriate firearm safety training K-12 every year. I have made that suggestion to our state legislators -- without result so far.

Hunter education saves perhaps dozens of lives every year in Utah alone. But we can do more. A universal firearm safety program in school would save even more lives. As mentioned in this editorial, the NRA already has excellent safety training programs in place. All we need is the legislative will to put them before our children.

While on the subject of firearm safety, why can't the TV and movie industry clean up their act regarding the portrayal of horrible gun-handling? Showing an actor portraying irresponsibility of crooks is one thing, but movies often show the good guys (cops and GIs) with unsafe gun-handling techniques. The entertainment industry must compensate by funding frequent one-minute TV spots to teach their audience about gun safety.