Letter: Shotguns 101

Letter: Shotguns 101
Date: Sep 25, 2006 11:00 AM
PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2006.09.25
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Letters
PAGE: A17
BYLINE: Aron May
SOURCE: The Edmonton Journal
WORD COUNT: 176

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Shotguns 101

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Is it time to introduce gun education in our schools so students can
learn safe and responsible use of firearms?

Should we follow the logic of our school sex educators -- the more "safe
sex" information given to our youth, the better? If sex education aimed
at the reduction of teenage pregnancy has merit, it should follow that
"safe firearm" classes can reduce shooting deaths in our schools.

There was a time when boys were allowed to bring guns to class so they
could go hunting on their way home after school. Strangely, there were
no Columbines, Tabers or Dawson College tragedies in those days to
prompt the registry or ban of firearms.

Might not the answer to these shootings be found in the social values
that were held when boys carried guns to class without incident and when
girls walked home alone after school in safety? Those were the values we
held dear; values taught in churches across our land; values that were
set aside in a desire for something new, on the edge, and "bad."

Aron May, Edmonton