Utah House Overwhelmingly Approves Bill to Teach Kids REAL Gun Safety

A bill mandating true gun safety in Utah schools has sailed through the state House, but anti-gunners are doing their best to derail the measur as it heads to the state Senate for approval. 

HB 104 is a common sense measure that would require all public school students to learn about the safe storage and handling of firearms on three separate occasions between kindergarten and the end of sixth grade. Rep. Rex Shipp, the primary sponsor of the legislation, says the instruction would be age-appropriate, with younger kids essentially being taught the advice given by the NRA’s Eddie Eagle. 

“A lot of times when they don’t have any firearms in their homes or don’t do any hunting and shooting, then these kids are not taught what to do when they come in contact with a firearm,” Shipp said.

Who could object to teaching young kids not to pick up a gun? Oddly enough, gun control advocates are the main opponents of the measure.

Gun violence prevention advocates have applauded Utah Republicans this year for growing gun safety education programs, but some argue those lessons should only be aimed at adults.

The proposal unfairly places the responsibility of gun safety on children rather than their parents, said Barbara Gentry of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah.

“Guns and gun safety are the responsibility of the adult gun owner, not school children,” Gentry said. “We support schools sending home materials to parents outlining the importance of safe storage in keeping our families and schools safe from gun violence.”

Jaden Christensen, a volunteer with the Utah chapter of Moms Demand Action, said lawmakers should instead look to grow programs that teach parents the importance of keeping firearms away from children.

“The burden should always be on adults,” Christensen said.

Utah law already mandates that any parent or guardian of a minor who fails to make reasonable efforts to remove a firearm from the minor’s possession is criminally liable, so adults are already “burdened”, as Christensen put it. 

Even with that law in place, however, there are going to be some adults who just don’t give a damn. So why shouldn’t we also teach kids what to do if they see a firearm? 

For younger kids, Eddie Eagle’s advice to “stop, don’t touch, run away, and tell an adult” might suffice, but there’s nothing wrong with age-appropriate gun safety lessons that offer older children and adolescents more detailed advice on gun storage and safe handling of firearms. 

The abstinence-based approach advocated by Christensen and other prohibtionists is downright dangerous. In making real firearm safety taboo, the gun control activists only increase the chances that a kid who runs across a gun will be fascinated and intrigued enough to pick it up. Taking the mystery out of a gun can go a long way towards keeping kids safe from harm, and it’s utterly ridiculous that these activists would prefer children be left in the dark instead of getting a real education. 

The good news is that in Utah, anyway, the gun control advocates aren’t likely to get their wish. With overwhelming approval in the state House, HB 104 looks to be in pretty good shape now that its in the upper chamber. And for those anti-gunners intent on keeping their own kids clueless about what to do if they run across a gun, they can take comfort in the fact that there’s an opt-out provision in the legislation, so even if it becomes law they can still ensure that their children are ignorant when it comes to real gun safety.