Fore Note: A few months ago, I proposed the idea of gun safety being taught in all Loudon County schools? You may also remember that nearly all parents found that to be a great idea while several school board members didn't like the idea at all. Even Sheriff Guider, seemed to have reservations about it.

Below is a story from Knoxville that shows just how easy it would be to hold gun safety courses in our schools and how important it could be to the safety of our children.

Seems it's just a matter if the school board wanted to implement such an important program.

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Knox County children learn about gun safety from Eddie Eagle

 

KNOX COUNTY (WBIR) - "If you see a gun, stop, don't touch, run away and tell a grown up!"
 

Children listened as Eddie Eagle delivered that message at Karns Elementary School. Katy Davis with the Knox County Sheriff's Office Special Services Unit introduced her feathered guest at an assembly Thursday morning.
 

Kids got to meet with Eddie and perform the "Eddie Eagle Shuffle" to show their understanding on gun safety as part of an interactive program. Eddie Eagle is a character developed by the National Rifle Association for children who are generally too young to be allowed to handle firearms.
 

Davis said the program provides a vital service to introduce children to gun safety at an early age.
 

"We know that in so many of the households where kids live -- guns are there,"  Davis said. "We want kids to understand you can be in a place with a gun and be perfectly safe, but you have to make a safe choice."
 

Davis said talking about gun safety with young children in school as early as kindergarten reduces accidents and deaths in households with guns.

"Kids are so curious about [a gun] that they will go pick it up,"  Davis said. "The next thing you know, bullets have been fired, and a child is lying on the ground."
 

The safety program is funded through KCSO, but the Friends of the NRA Foundation provides free educational materials such as booklets and stickers for children.  Davis said KCSO provides this program for 24 elementary schools in the county, and Knoxville Police provide a similar service for schools within Knoxville city limits.
 

KCSO started the program began back in 1992 and has reached more than 133,000 children over the years.
 

According to the Center for Injury Research and Prevention, more than 11,000 children fell victim to gun violence in 2013, with most of those being accidental discharges. Most of those incidents happened at the victims home.