This year, legislation was introduced to require all Virginia school districts to teach firearm safety training at all grade levels. On Thursday, the bill was stricken from the subcommittee, sending it to a Senate Rules committee where it’s unlikely to move forward.
Right now, firearms safety training is only available for elementary school students in Virginia. Legislation approved in 2010 required Virginia’s Department of Education to create firearm safety program suitable for elementary students, and incorporate key principles from the NRA’s own training, Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program.
A spokesperson for the NRA said the Eddie Eagle program was “developed with the assistance of teachers, child psychologists, law enforcement professionals, and NRA's own gun safety experts.” The key concepts are incorporated into a jingle, with the message: “Stop! Don’t Touch. Run Away. Tell a grown up.”
The NRA says this training is currently being used by over 125 schools in Virginia. Since the training was created in 1988, more than 2.3 million Virginia students pre-K through fourth grade have gone through the program, usually taught by school resources officers.
VDOE’s training materials are similar, incorporating characters like Finnigan the Fox to teach kindergarteners that if they find a gun, to leave it alone, leave the area and let an adult know. A spokesperson for VDOE says the state isn’t keeping track of how many schools are using their materials.
Republican Sen. Tommy Norment wanted to expand the state’s program to all grades, and has asked the Senate rules committee to study it.
“I’m asking them to study, to look at the curriculum, find out if it’s appropriate and can we implement it without creating an unfunded mandate,” Norment said.
His bill also would require that firearm safety be taught along with family life curriculum. Norment says he thinks that’s appropriate because, like family life material, the content of VDOE’s gun safety training is tailored to specific age levels.
“We’re trying to educate students on societal issues that take place outside of the schools,” Norment said.
Chesterfield resident Emily Henderson was in Richmond on Lobby Day this past Monday. Her family taught her how to shoot, and she’s a recreational shooter today. She said she supports firearms safety training in schools. “If people don’t know what guns are, and they’re not exposed to it, they’re going to be fearful,” Henderson said.
Michael McCabe is against Norment’s proposal. The college student from Fairfax, Virginia is also the state policy director for March for Our Lives. He was one of 13 students who slept overnight at the Capitol to avoid the pro-gun rally held outside. “We have a tragic number of accidental deaths from firearms ... which we absolutely need to prevent,” McCabe said. However, he didn’t think the Eddie Eagle NRA program was appropriate, describing it as “gun-lobby propaganda.”
Lori Haas, state director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, opposes Norment’s bill as well. She says firearms safety should be taught at home for families who choose to do so, not in school.
“It would be like requiring - for someone who considers firearms are a hobby - are we gonna require people to teach..snow skiing?”
