Posted on 04/25/2012 5:30:03 AM PDT by marktwain
First an 8-year-old in Bremerton was nearly killed when a gun in her classmate's backpack went off.
Next, kids in Pierce and Snohomish counties were killed by guns left behind in cars.
Then the 10-year-old daughter of a Spokane cop shot herself in the leg with his service weapon.
All were accidents, all leading to pointless injuries or death to kids. The victims were so young and innocent. It made the past few months the worst run of publicity for guns, and the idea of home gun ownership, in years.
Even gun-rights advocates braced for some sort of backlash.
Yet the opposite is happening.
In March and so far in April, more people have gotten concealed-pistol permits than ever.
It's part of an extraordinary "arming up" of this state that began a few years ago and only seems to be escalating. Since 2009, the number of people licensed to carry here has jumped more than 50 percent, to about 360,000.
Now one in 14 Washington adults is legal to pack concealed heat — nearly triple the rate of the gunslinger state of Texas.
Gun sales are up everywhere. So much so that The New York Times just ran a feature on "covert carry" clothing lines, with quick-access holster slits for the fashion-aware gun owner.
Guns are smoking hot here.
"This gun surge has stunned even me," says Dave Workman, editor of TheGunMag.com and a local gun-rights crusader. "I look at these numbers and I say 'wow!' We are a really heavily armed state."
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I'm all for whatever works, so, in that spirit, Workman has a provocative idea. Why not teach some basic gun safety in the schools? If we're trending toward the day when everyone owns a gun, why not take on the public-health aspects directly?
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
The LIBERAL education “industry” will refuse to waste time teaching young people “GUN SAFETY”. The subject would take too much time from “driving safety”, “sex safety”, “food safety”, “playground safety”, and other critical lessons in avoiding danger.
There are priorities, ya know.
First an 8-year-old in Bremerton was nearly killed when a gun in her classmate's backpack went off. Next, kids in Pierce and Snohomish counties were killed by guns left behind in cars.
These kids were not shot or killed by the guns alone. In both cases the gun owner failed to properly secure his/her weapon.
In Fort Lee, NJ, the Fort Lee High school had an indoor rifle range.
All schools should have one. All communities should have ranges for rifle and pistol, as the rifle and pistol are the basic tools of self defense.
More and more crimes are thwarted by armed citizens without firing a shot than ever. In Spokane, it’s almost a daily event that goes practically unreported in the media. It’s mentioned, but not sensationalized like a shooting-it’s boring news.
And in the first case - the mom and boyfriend had felony records, so legally they should not have had a gun that an 8 year old person could pickup.
In several of the cases cited after the first - the irresponsible person not storing a gun safely was a police officer (not just the Spokane incident.)
And there are studies that show an innocent person is more likely to be accidentally shot by a police officer than a law-abiding citizen exercising their right to carry!
....gunslinger state of Texas....
Funny, I live in Texas and we don’t have all those incidents happening here. No gunfights at stops lights either. No irate husbands shooting their wives for not “fixing” supper on time or having cold beer ready for us. I would be afraid to try and shoot my wife, she shoots pretty damn good; starts low and works her way up to the stomach!!
Again we see liberal anti-gunners trying to portray gun owners as reckless, hair brained people who care for nothing but a piece of metal. It is a shame that members of MSM do not have to go through training courses to become MSM members like gun owners have to go through to carry concealed. Maybe they would learn something!!!
When I was in high school (1960s), it was fairly common for schools to have rifle teams and compete against one another.
My high school had a rifle range in the basement, but it was closed for liability
reasons (the door was at the far end of the range).
Hmmmm - let's see, now. What was it that happened a few years ago? It's on the tip of my tongue. Ideas, anyone?
>> it was closed for liability reasons (the door was at the far end of the range).<<
Um, yeah, I can see where that might be a little design problem all right.
Dan needs to understand why people are “arming up”.
It’s to defend ourselves from commie bastards such as him.
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