CCSD's Gun Problem: Any Solution But Education

Credit: NRA

Credit: OSU

Clark County School District has been having a rash of gun incidents lately. At Canyon Springs High School, a 16 year old shot another student near the ball fields. One student brought a BB gun to school. A 9 year old brought an unloaded gun to class. In the 1980s, gun incidents resulted in banning campus carry; not just the intended criminal charges for gun-toting gangbangers.

Such a "simple" legislative solution like a California style gun ban appears on the horizon. 
For these younger kids that take guns to school, there is a simple solution that does not involve the DA trying to press child endangerment charges. NRS 202.300 adequately covers a 9 year old grabbing an unsecured handgun. Of course child endangerment is a felony, which means that DA Wolfson can take away the 9 year old's parent's guns. 

A 9 year old should be better educated not to play with guns the same way most children are taught to run away from strangers. As one instructor said to me; "Why don't we hear about children catching on fire?" That's because children are taught that fire is dangerous and to stay away with it. If STOP-DROP-AND ROLL can be taught to kids, why can't we do the same thing with guns?

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The NRA has just such a program. The problem is that schools don't teach it and so-called "gun safety" organizations don't teach actual gun safety either. Using NRA material in class would probably be a fire-able offense for even a tenured teacher. In my days in law enforcement, we had boxes of unused Eddie Eagle material sitting in the storage room of the police station. 

If children are taught to leave guns alone, run away, and tell an adult, many of these tragedies would be averted. Schools can't control bad parents who leave guns lying around, but they can at least try–and have a duty–to teach kids a mental fail-safe. It's not as if they don't step in to parental territory already; sex ed is a prime example.

The one real measure that the school board is blind to is actual gun safety education for young kids. No more students dying at home playing with guns and no more unauthorized show-and-tell out of a backpack. And just maybe, if they get serious about educating kids about basic gun safety.

The problem of violent teens is a cultural one that education will not solve. The black community is the main source of the problem; a group that is bereft of good parenting and glorifies the ghetto and gangster lifestyle. Discipline at home, quality role models, and a community-wide rejection of violence is the only way to solve this problem. I'm not sure schools can teach morality.

Credit: NRA