Oregon Guns Rights Proponent Pushes for Firearm Education in the Schools
Jose Nino
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Derek LeBlanc, the founder and president of Kids S.A.F.E. Foundation, recently pushed for legislation that would allow for public schools in Oregon to teach firearm safety to first graders. State Representative Virgle Osborne sponsored House Bill 3118 .
Kids S.A.F.E. Foundation is an organization that has the aim of teaching children what to do if they find a firearm. In addition, the organization focuses on teaching older children marksmanship and firearm safety.
John Petrolino of Bearing Arms noted that LeBlanc pushed for a similar bill that received bipartisan support but ultimately died in committee. LeBlanc is still working with contacts at the State House and is using Osborne as his point man for the legislation.
The text of HB 3118 reads as follow:
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. (1) Each school district and public charter school may provide a firearm safety and accident prevention class to students in the first grade. The class may be offered each school term of the school year for a total of at least 30 minutes.
(2) The class must be taught by a school resource officer, a law enforcement officer, a first responder or a person certified by a national firearms organization on the safe and proper use of firearms.
(3) The curriculum of the class must include:
(a) The proper steps a student should take upon encountering an unsecured firearm;
(b) The differences between video game violence and real-life violence; and
(c) The dangers of confusing toy guns and real guns.
(4) The class must be nonpolitical and may not encourage or discourage possession or ownership of firearms.
(5) At no time may any real firearms or live ammunition be used or possessed during the Class.
Several provisions in the bill mandate parents to receive notifications at least seven days before any classes take place. Parents are given the ability to pull their children out of these classes as they see fit.
.Firearm safety should not be a partisan issue. Firearms are a part of everyday life in the US, which necessitates some degree of education among the American public on how to handle these tools. However, a growing anti-gun culture and the rise of Gun Control Inc. has made otherwise commonsense measures become taboo in state legislatures.
If we’re being honest, passing such a measure in Oregon will be a tall task. Oregon is already an anti-gun state as evidenced by its 36th place ranking according to Guns & Ammo magazine’s latest rankings for best states for gun owners. Plus, the state government boasts a Democratic trifecta, where Democrats hold 35-25 and 17-12 majorities in State House and State Senate, respectively.
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