TexasCHLforum.com

Gotta love it.

"The Sheriff's Department in Caddo Parish, Louisiana is inviting children to participate in the "Kids First Gun Program," which will teach young children how to safely operate firearms."

http://cnsnews.com/blog/gregory-gwyn-wi ... g-children" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great idea! Wish the Boy Scouts would start this up agaion...

It's for the children

My daddy taught me initially on a cross man bob gun then stepped up to a pump action 22... Then I went to summer camp with the Boy Scouts at age 11 and got some more training with a bolt action 22. Then daddy let me shoot his 4magnum contender a few weeks after I turned 13... It's been amazing and I hope to have the liberty of training my children and informing them about the constitution and how to adequately protect themselves.

Where I grew up the local YMCA had BB gun (Initial class) and Pellet gun (Second level class) courses that were taught by the same person, Mr. Murphy. The teacher could have easily stepped right into the position of drill seargent but don't take that as a bad thing. We all respected him and did exactly what he told us to do. There was no horseplay or joking around with those guns. He warned everyone the first day of class that there would be no tolerance. I only remember hearing of one kid being kicked out of his class and told never to return. I actually think that was an urban legend to scare us all. I can say that without a doubt that when you finished his courses you were instinctively practicing the cardinal rules of gun safety at all times and you were a much better marksman by the end. As I got old enough to hunt with real firearms and went out with various friends I could immediately see which ones of us had taken those courses and who didn't.

Mr. Murphy's guidance has stuck with me for life. Learning from a parent is great but I think learning from an authoritative non-family person has more impact.

Either way it's great to see this happening again.

The Boy Scouts of America offers a Rifle merit badge and a Shotgun merit badge. These teach the safe operation and basic shooting skills of .22 LR and Trap shooting of a 12 or 20 gauge. The classes seem to basically follow NRA guidelines with some slight changes for BSA. They are good classes and the boys are taught good skills and habits.

This is awesome. Hubby and I work with 4-H. I have a Safety training next week for about 16 kids and their parents. Our Shooting Sports club has grown exponentially in the past 2 years. Very exciting!

That is EXCELLENT. I always tell folks, IF you are going to keep guns, educate your kids.