At least kids have positive alternatives to sitting on their butts, ignoring Nature and thinking that the real world is on a computer screen, and will develop an interest in environmental protection that suburban lassitude considers "boring".

Good for the NRA and other organizations that teach people to be more self sufficient and aware of what the world is really about.

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1. IF (and I mean a BIG if, cheney had taken some of these hunter safety courses he would not have had the accident he did...
2. Teaching children about firearms is the RESPONSIBLE thing to do. Sooner or later, one of them WILL come into contact with any number of the 220 million guns in this nation. It is better that we are proactive so that they may learn safety.
3. It may help these youngsters in the future to know how to shoot a weapon, whether it be for self-defense (a person is a fool to trust the police) or in case of an issue of national defense. (God knows we are not the most popular right now....)
4. It gives people a sense of reality. having to kill something and eat it is a heavy dose of reality for many of us. It was with my first hunt, and I have a greater respect for what I harvest, and certainly do not do it for sport.
5. It shows that with responsible teaching and ethical understanding, the anti-gun folks have nothing to stand on...

Personally, I stopped hunting and farm at this point in time. I do not feel the need to kill something in the wild when I raise and butcher my own meat, and grow foods from my organic garden. As far as the anti-gun idiots are concerned, look it up. Keeping firearms is a necessity in this nation, and always will be, due to the right and responsibility of keeping our government in check- not to mention a constitutionally protected freedom and a natural right of man to be able to defend ones self...

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
-Thomas Jefferson

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Great, now we can look forward to Columbine situations where the kids are excellent shots.

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The hunter's safety courses are an excellent idea for children. Hunter safety teaches these children responsibility, safety, and appreciation for our natural resources. I am glad that the NRA and NSSF exist; those organizations tirelessly works to ensure that the rights of all americans are preserved.

I wish that the author had dealt more with the conservation aspect of hunting. These hunting courses teach the children about the important role that hunters play in controlling animal populations. Without responsible hunting, animal populations can grow uncontrollably because the natural predators no longer exist. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) carefully monitors hunting activities to ensure that all hunters obey the laws and that no animal population is over-hunted.

Hunter safety is not merely about gun safety; it is more importantly about conservation. The next generation of hunters will ensure that we Americans are responsible about our natural resources.

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Another important issue for the NRA is to gain future public support. Even though it may not gain a lot of future hunters or even members, the NRA may gain more future supporters for their political positions through programs like these. Most organizations know that if they can create positive associations with kids for their offerings, those feelings can last a lifetime.

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In my opinion hunting is justifiable only under 2 conditions
1. It keeps/restores the natural balance that has been disturbed by human acitivity (e.g. removal of the natural predators).
2. The animal is killed for consumption as food etc.
[Clarification: self-defense against a predator is not hunting]

Hunting because it is fun to kill (like e.g Cheney does) is in my opinion deeply unethical, and I know no true hunter that does not despise the mere "shootists" who are in it for the thrill and the trophies only.

In a gun-mad culture as the US I consider it wise to teach children gun security and the ethical behaviour that goes with it (where there is no gun tradition, I'd vote against it).
On the other hand I have no sympathy for the described attempts to lure children into the use of guns in order to make them customers of weapon/ammo manufacturers or to increase the political clout of the NRA.

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If fewer children were riding bikes, would we squawk about an outreach program to get kids into the sport? What about chess?

Then why the outrage over hunting? Ah, because you don't PERSONALLY care for it, and therefore you don't want anyone ELSE to do it?

How very REPUBLICAN of you all.

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that is the NRA's prime motive, and has been for a long time, since their primary funding likly comes not from membership but from the arms industry itself.

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Hunting is a Neanderthal activity. I know of no redeeming feature for it. OK, I'm a bleeding heart. I grew up in Texas and had a .22 in high school. I very nearly shot my friend due to shoddy design and construction of a US brand rifle. Shooting wild animals soon made be depressed and I gave it up. I look upon it as a very sad era in my life. Also, most of the serious hunters I've met obviously need a shink. It is quite a restful thing to live in Japan, where I live, where people simply don't have firearms except for a rare few who are highly regulated and a few gangsters. Basically the gangsters are only worried about other gangsters. I think this shows that guns are like a cancer. One causes another to appear and so on.

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The sad thing, and the real reason there are fewer and fewer hunters, is that; there is less and less hunting habitat. When I was a kid hunting was a way of life. My son went through a state sponsored safety program and got a hunting license at 12 years old. My grand kids may or may not ever take up the sport of hunting. Hunting is a sport these days. However, my grand kids will learn how to shoot. If there is ever a war and a draft is required, it requires only minimal training in new weapons to put a fighting force on the ground if one has previous training. Unless one side is ready to use over whelming force and genocide, wars always come down to man to man and hand to hand. My grand kids will be ready their survival may depend on it.

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It would be prudent for you to join with the Pro Firearm lobbying groups to teach firearm safely and values in the school system.

If all children were brought up with a respectful appreciation of the proper use of firearms, it would help prevent there misuse.

Proper conditioning may be used to prevent the violent attitude many children grow up with because they have not been taught adult responsibilities.
'

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ABOVE - "i nearly shot my friend"......sounds like you needed a gun safety course.

I like guns, I liked them in high school. My parents would never dream of owning one. I came from an urban, brainwashed, cultured, democratic - voting family.

People who won't have guns are setting themselves up to be VICTIMS. No kids in my house now.....so I sleep with a .38 by the bed. And why not?

Funny how no one complains about wealthy people and politicians having ARMED bodyguards. Most of us can't afford them. Hence......GUNS.

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Now who'dathunk that? (Erm...well.......duh!)

Teaching kids to be responsible hunters and shooters isn't a bad thing; neither is raising your kids the way you choose and getting your authoritarian noses out of your neighbors' rights to do the same.

Where did all the pro-choice advocates go?

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Then I'll be all for it when I can go out and hunt some overbreeders in their SUVs and McMansions. I couldn't stand to eat the meat but it might make good dog food.

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programs. Get kids out of the city and suburbs and off the video games and tv for a change. Let them camp, hike, fish, hunt, and enjoy the outdoors. It will also teach them appropriate and safe use of firearms so they will be less likely to shoot someone/themselves accidently if they find a gun in someone's home (or dumped in the schoolyard by a fleeing junkie.)
We can hope also that this program could be focused on certain animals. Like cull some of the whitetail in problem areas that have become overcrowded due to no predators and growth of cities. And fish for those invasive species and catch-n-release all natives.

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Ok, lets be clear about this.

I grew up in a time and place where every boy I knew had a .22 by the time he was around 12. We all had BB guns VERY early. I think I was in 2nd grade when I got mine (a really sweet red rider that still had a wooden stock). Out of all the kids I grew up with, not a one has been involved in gun crime.

The problem ISN'T guns. If it were, then the prevalence of knives in EVERY SINGLE HOME IN THE COUNTRY would have caused a raging epedimic of stabbings. The problem is not hunting, either. The problem is a society that glorifies gun violence. Guns do not fire themselves. Guns do not aim themselves. People aim them and fire them.

I don't own any guns, nor do I much want to. I don't hunt. I tried it a couple of times and found it just wasn't for me. I don't approve of hunting for sport... but I don't have a problem with hunting for food.

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Granted the NRA is a pig organization. Granted the NRA is, since the usurpation of vice-president-for-life Wayne LaPierre, primarily a lobby for firearms manufacturers. That being said, however, what is wrong with this statement from the above article:"This class teaches them how to use the gun, how to load the gun," she told reporters, "I do not feel comfortable with them knowing this information."

The mother quoted, one Aimee Falls, is promoting continued ignorance about firearms. By keeping knowledge of guns occult she promotes the mystique of firearms and the essentially masculine cult of the gun barrel. Attitudes like the speaker's transform a mundane object into a cult fetish; the talisman of the outlaw, the bad boy.

Truthfully, I'd rather be in a room with a thousand armed NRA members than in one with one gun packing gang-banger. Why? Because at the very least, the thousand NRA members know how their firearm works, they treat it with the respect due a deadly weapon and know enough not to wildly wave it around, point it in other peoples' faces while keeping it fully loaded. Firearm safety programs work.

And, really, as for gun control, it is not the guns which need controlling, it's the shooter.

Shooting firearms should be treated similarly to the state scantioned privilege of driving an automobile. A citizen who owns a firearm would be required to take a state scantioned firearm safety test, purchase a shooters license (something I envision as similar to a driver's license which would need to be updated periodically), and some form of liability insurance. As far as I'm concern she or he could own as many guns as she or he could afford.

The number of firearms possessed is not a real issue but responsible usage is. Who owns firearms and how they are used is more important that how many and of what type can be owned and where.

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What is that child hunting for? An elephant. And why do children have to be taught what to do when "they come across firearms in the home". Parents who own guns have an obligation to put them far out of the reach of children. Maybe hunting has lost it's charm because we now have grocery stores where the things have been killed for us. How's that for convenience. What a country. Guns around chldren is a no brainer. It's dangerous. Thanks, ANNA

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Oh Hooray, more bloodthirsty animal abusers in the world...

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Hunting is a most enjoyable sport. I've spent many a season out in the western mountains of Maryland (actually big hills) looking for the elusive white tail. Sometimes I'm lucky and sometime I' not. The experience and the being in the wild with my trusty 30-30 is a positive experience. Makes me wonder in awe at the G/D of Creation as I listen to the sounds of nature. Even when I don't have success I still enjoy the being in the woods with the sounds and my thoughts. The other positive is that I know that my being able to handle a weapon gives me an edge up on limp-wristed liberal anti-gun elitists. You know the kind....the ones who blame gun violence on the tool instead of the person. The ones that ignore the many thousands of times that regular folk save themselves and others (including liberals) from criminals but will highlight every incident where someone uses a gun to commit mayhem. I'm pleased that the America I live in is a gun culture. I also want to thank the writer of this piece for reminding me that I have to renew my NRA membership. One last question.....I'm looking at a new high powered rifle but can't decide between a Reminton 308 or a BushMaster .223........decisions....decisions.

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Hunting can be a enjoyable sport for adults and responsable teenager from the age of 17 and not kids, a gun a child hand is a very troubling sight. They can be taught about gun safety, but giving them a gun and saying that they are out hunting does not reflect the right place of a child.

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I'm sorry, but I don't find hunting very... hunter like anymore.
There's nothing special about luring deer year round with feed, then when it's open season you sit up in your deer blind blasting away. Sure, its takes some skill to be an accurate shot, I wont deny that. If you really want to hunt, learn how to use a bow and arrow. Then feel free to go out looking for bears or bigger game. You see, there's more of a challenge in that. I promise I won't cry if I hear of some tragic accident where someone was mauled to death.

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Ignore the posts below the comic. Just look at the Bloom County Liberal Hunters Strip, from back in the day, HERE.

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I have never understood why the left is so afraid of guns.
I regard the increasing numbers of kids getting interested in hunting as a GOOD thing. I, like many environmentalist activists, first nurtured my love of nature growing up in a family with a tradition of hunting and fishing.

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I grew up in a home where guns were not allowed and were considered too dangerous for decent people to have. I learned to shoot at the age of 37, and found I was a natural, not something I would have expected. I even achieved a marksman's rating with a 30-06 and a 45. Do I hunt? No. Do I currently own a gun? No. Am I glad I know how to safely own and shoot one? You bet I am.

Courses like these must be taught. We may not like that thought, and it may not be used for hunting by many who take the classes, but the knowledge may be invaluable in the future. I am not so foolish as to think that the motivations of the gun manufacturers or the NRA are altruistic. I am a realist who sees that hunting for our food or protecting our homes in the near future may be the difference between survival and not. While I would rather that Nature handled the thinning of herds with natural predators such as wolves and cougars, I also understand that responsible hunting can be done within reason. (Aerial shooting or bounties are barbaric and disgusting)

Should we fear that these classes will lead to another Columbine or worse? It do not think that should be as much of a concern as the accessiblity of students to guns on the streets or the fact that most children who get hurt with guns do so because they have no knowledge on how to handle a gun safely. Parents who allow guns in the home should be sure that they are properly secured; that children cannot get access to them; and that their children are properly trained in their use when they feel the child is old enough to understand the responsibilities that go with gun ownership.

So, while I do not agree with these classes as a marketing tool for the gun industry, I do believe that in today's world, this class is an important one for our young people if they are to be safe and prepared for the future.

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Most "Animal Rights" folks seem far more concerned about the welfare of individual creatures than the health of the ecosystem as a whole. They often oppose actions that are necessary to preserving intact native habitats that cause "suffering" to introduced exotic species. Hunters, on the other paw, understand that they need to preserve intact ecosystems in order to participate in their sport. If it weren't for groups like Ducks Unlimited the remaining wetlands would have been paved over with mini malls long ago. Personally, I think a responsible hunter stalking the introduced European wild boar that are destroying mountain meadows and out-competing native deer is a far better environmentalist than some soft-hearted lib crying "Think of the pussy wussies" when a ranger tries to cull a few feral cats to protect the last breeding population of clapper rails.

True, the NRA has basically become an adjunct of the GOP, but knee-jerk liberals' anti-hunting attitudes helped drive them in that direction. I know a guy who hates Bush but reflexively votes Republican because he's concerned that the Democrat Party will try and take his guns away, and I'm sure he's not alone. Pols like Diane Feinstein support corporate globalization and imperialist adventurism, but are considered progressive because they want gun control. Radicals (folks that wish to address the root of problems rather than liberals who prefer to dress up a pig with some lipstick) shouldn't be taken in by this anti-gun program, which would disarm the people and leave activists to be rounded up like European Jews in WWII if push ever comes to shove in this country. The right is already armed to the teeth. I don't trust the police and military to protect my rights; those very forces slaughtered hundreds of thousands of good people in Latin America over the last generation. The Dirty War in Argentina never would have happened if the working class had been armed. I'd rather oppose gun registration and restriction and make common cause with rural workers who do a little hunting and fishing against the corporate-financed duopoly.

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I grew up in a small town in a mountainous region that is nearly all protected forestry and hunting grounds so I understand just what exactly the funds from hunting and fishing licensing provides. I support firearm safety and training courses because without the healthy respect and understanding of what a gun can do, and how to properly handle one, it can lead to serious disasters.

My problem with the situation however, is that why is it okay to supplement part of physical education in schools with hunting courses? As it is, we are struggling to keep the current standard school curriculum in place such as PE, music, arts, and other valuable educational programs, I don’t feel that we should be sacrificing one of these areas just to promote hunting. If it were strictly gun safety that needed to be taught, I could appreciate that, but this to me just seems like a marketing ploy to generate funds for yet another industry.

Teaching children about and getting them involved in conservation efforts does not require hunting courses, this can and is often done through numerous other school activities that are already in place, which also encourages respect and compassion for all creatures and the environment.

If the desired affect is to generate more hunters or at least gun toting people, then why not do the same thing the girl/boy scouts do and send out fliers to the schools advertising their programs and activities, rather than absorbing themselves directly into the schools.

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Sure, we can teach our kids about hunting all we want while at the same time letting the arms industry join Corporate America into GREENWASHING our youth. Look, hunters know a great deal of conservation and that I appreciate but let's be honest. The only reason the hunting program exists is to promote more guarenteed gun-only toters who could care a damn less about the fact that their politicians and Corporate America are selling this country out and using their gun fears to stay in power. You can have all the firearms all you want but still feel insecure and worried that freedom is slipping away which is no doubt the case. Save, no.2, the Bill of Rights is already gone for the most part.

An earlier poster mentioned the need to preserve school programs such as Physical Education. I would add the need to add a really worthwhile and less monied program to help people improve their Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills along with it. Let's face it, America is getting more obese and from teen dating violence happening to 1 in 3 teens to the 50% divorce rate, our country's well-being isn't going to get any better by turning kids into gun-toters and potentially heavily armed gangsters.

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All United States of America needs is to teach hunting and killing as part of the children's learning skills.

As if there is not enough killing already. As if there isn't enough guns in the country. As if there aren't enough people in jails for murder and battery.

Who are you people?

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like an article such as this one.

Having spent 6 years in the midst of the hunting culture of N.Michigan I can tell you most of these clowns would use dynamite, if necessary, to "get their deer". They try and tell you it's all about heritage or sportsmanship or game management or, (this one kills me), a great family experience, when it's really just about killing a defenseless animal for fun. Any way they can.

The fact that the loudmouth Second Ammendment scholars at the NRA can influence the outcome of an election is a sad commentary on how far the United States has devolved.

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for continued cannon fodder for their endless wars. KILL KILL KILL

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Okay, full disclosure: I'm a bleeding heart vegetarian who wold never in a million years hunt. I also hate guns and fully believe in responsible gun control and fair treatment of animals.

However, I also grew up in Southern Idaho where hunting is a way of life. Many people I knew and know hunt every year, use every single piece of meat, the hides, etc and I have no problem with this kind of hunting. Also, teaching gun safety in a country such as ours filled with crazies who have more guns that some small nations is a good thing. A kid I'd known for years accidentally shot himself in the head last summer and some elemental gun safety could have prevented this tragedy.

But a distinction does need to be made between people who use hunting to supplement their larders and who have some respect for the nature they are in and those who fly in from other places to "get the big one" to put the head on their wall. My husband worked in Alaska for many years and there are charters that will take you in close enough to shore that you can shoot bears, deer, elk, etc from the deck of the boat. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of and I have no respect or support for this so-called sport.

I also think it is ingenuous to claim that hunting somehow provides a unique interaction with nature. If you really care about getting urban kids into nature, I'm not sure how killing some of nature's grandest creatures is better than taking kids on nature hikes, bird walks, etc, etc.

Last but not least, yes hunting help to control prey populations. However, these prey populations get out of control in the first place because of the expasion of human habitat into nature and overzealous hunting of predators. But most of the hunters I know vociferously (and sometimes violently) resist any sort of predator re-introduction. So, if they're hunting to help the populations it seems hypocritical to oppose predator reintroduction.

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The only thing that feels sickening to me about this piece is the NRA's tobacco-like parasitism brought on by their capitalism-religion/cult. OMG, we're losing membership revenues, quick make a bunch of addicts so we can sustain our income! Sounds like a bunch of whiny rich white losers to me.

Hunting? Well, I grew up with guns, grew up patrolling 375 acres of woods to keep out hunters without permits to hunt on that property and discovered how easy it is to get shot at and desperately want to put a bullet in some asshat's head in retaliation.

It's not the guns, it's the perverse 'Merkaan cult-ure that makes those guns problematic. I was never shot at by a reasonable hunter, trained or otherwise. I was assaulted many times, however, by drunk, redneck assholes (some of whom I personally knew from school) and numerous untrained butholes who came up from the MYC or Philly trying to "bag the'seffs a buck" to hang on their suburban walls.

As for any actual hunting, I learned to hunt in the Lenape tradition from an indigenous hunter (bow & arrow, not the pissant lazy route with a gun) and did that successfully only once. I ate with gratitude and perhaps I would be able to do it again if I absolutely had to (and would actaully welcome a gun in that scenario, because it's tough to keep a steady hand when you're fuckin' hungry already, let alone having to run the 15 - 20 km before the creature falls). But knowing that, having experienced that, I'm not interested at this stage of suburban existence to take another life to feed my own through hunting. As far as gun safety is concerned, it's a no brainer, if you're going to own a gun, you'd better know how to use it safely. That's far more important than waiting periods. IMHO, the only need to for gun control (or bans) is the sick right-wing asshat cult that tends to own them. Otherwise we should have the right to march on the white house and demand impeachment at the point of the guns since that's why the second amendment exists in legislative intent anyway. If we're not going to do that... all this angst is useless.

My bigger concern is the NASCAR, soldier-cult in this country playing with firesticks because some rich white asshole in the NRA wants to keep his income up. To them I say, go get a fucking real job and quit yer damned whinin'!

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much like the Elks and Moose Lodges, young people aren't interested in it.

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Citing 1982-2001 data would appear to be selective manipulation of data to support an agenda? More recent data from the past six years actually indicate that the number of Americans who enjoy recreational hunting is steadily increasing. Oops! Looks like the facts contradict the agenda of this article.

For those who oppose hunting, if you are strict vegetarian I can respect your position, if not agree with it. For the rest of you, do you think your cheeseburger committed suicide?

Education of the safe use of firearms is a problem in what way? The downward trend of accidental, (actually they should be called negligent, because accidents occur only in the presence of unsafe practices), shootings is a direct result of increased education on the safe use of firearms.

For the deluded people who think the democans are the solution instead of just the flip side of the republicrat problem; and who further think that 'gun control' is grand; you must ask yourselves one question. Is a USA where only the police and the military are armed a good thing? Would you like such a nation under the present government? Have you really thought that one all the way through? Maybe you'd care to spend a year in North Korea and get back to me on just how well 'gun control' works for them.

Don't blame me, I voted Libertarian.

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The article is about rearing children to shoot guns. Don't even think for a SECOND that the NRA gives two shits about the kids. They want supporters and consumers for the future (hence the declining hunter numbers). The kids the NRA is targeting are nothing but commodities to them and if anyone tries to justify it any other way, they're delusional.

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That the vast majority of federal conservation funding is done by a tax at the wholesale level on firearms and ammunition? Yep, hunters and target shooters are the ones paying to finance the national forests. Think about that the next time you're hiking or mountain biking on federal recreation land.

As for those who think bow hunting is more sporting than firearms, I would have to disagree. I've seen deer harvested during the rifle season a month after the bow season with abcessed arrowheads imbedded in their hip. I saw one deer with an apparent neurological problem a month after bow season as evidenced by seizures. A post mortem exam by the game wardens revealed an arrowhead imbedded in the skull that cause a brain infection. I saw another deer starving, with an arrow throught the roof of its mouth with the point in the deer's tongue. Some sporting bow hunter failing to follow up on their poor shots caused all of these problems. Firearms are far more humane. I have no time for bow hunters, period!

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Although I personally have no objection to teaching children how to handle guns safetly; I do object to the glorifying of hunting, and teaching anythilng to do with guns in the school. Isn't it just so right wing; keep our children ignorant re safe sex, and keep sex education watered down and untruthful; but let's teach them how to kill. Scares the hell out of me.

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...but when I stand back and look at the diverstity of the responses to this article, it makes me feel all warm and squishy inside. We've got bleeding heart bunny-huggers and self-proclaimed gun people all looking at and responding to a website critical of the current administration and the system in general.
Thank Goddess. Maybe we're not doomed, after all.
BTW, I'm firmly in the Libertarian/Gun Freak camp. An armed society is a polite society ;)

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...You might be a redneck.

:-)

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Been a vegetarian for over 20 years, and am a proponent of hunting. And anyone who eats meat should know how to hunt, and most Americans eat meat.

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Other recent headlines refer to the potential of a dictatorship in the USA and increasing abuses of Government power. Weapon confiscation is a wannabe dictator's dream come true. The adage that "he who has the gold makes the rules" applies even more to guns. There are only two types of anti-gunners I have seen, Those who want to be the dictator-e.g.Hillary, and those unfortunate souls stupid enough to believe the lies of those who want to be the dictator. The question I have for those who want to take my guns is this- "what are you planning to do that will make me want to shoot you?". In direct response to your article an youth and guns, It is our responsibility as citizens to educate our children in the proper use of the best weapons available. It is our only hope of regaining freedom. Firearms training should be a part of every school curriculum, and guns must be available to everyone. The goons and the Government will never give them up and it is vitally important that our youth carry on our heritage of freedom.

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Teaching the kids gun safety is good, but close to 1/2 of gun deaths in the 0-19 year old populaton (1800 out of 3400) are in just the 18 to 19 year old age group. At age 18, part-time gang bangers and drug dealers leave school and become full time gang bangers and drug dealers. In America, our prisons are full with close to 2 million people. It is no big deal for anybody who wants it to simply go out and get a gun and many of these same individuals, by the tens of thousands, end up in American prisons. Therefore, to talk about some hunting program, gun safety or easily fooled background checks is pretty much meaningless. American society is a violent one and the means to carry out that violence is readily accessible to anyone. Don't think so? I will take you to parts of any of America's major cities and if you've got 100 bucks or so, in less than 5 minutes you can have any weapon (and many other things besides) that you want.

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very visceral feeling for me. they are scum. i drove once to a reserve and saw these punks in their suits going into the woods. or bringing back their bloody trophy and for whose pleasure. unfortunately they are connected to state conservation which makes me not want to contribute to any of their causes. i dont see certain groups doing this , only a certain kind of crypto european stock of dimwits. i cheer when i hear one of these nuts has shot himself or fallen out of some tree and had to be rushed to the hospital. it is intolerable that this organization is making inroads into schools. i would have sued the bastards if they did that in my school.

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But violence prevention experts say teaching gun safety in order to prevent accidents is counter-intuitive.

Only 5 percent of gun deaths are accidental...

...while 2,825 children and teens were killed with firearms in 2004, only 143 of those deaths were accidental. Even among the white population, which accounts for the vast majority of hunters, the ratio of suicides and homicides to accidents is 14.5 to one.

The statistics used in this piece bothered me, because the author seems to be against guns.

Problem is, the very stats he uses to prove that most deaths aren't accidental are also used by the anti-gun crowd to criticize guns in the home because of accidents. Except in those stories, suicides are lumped in with accidents in a general "non-murder" death-in-the-home category. This author, to prove a different point, moves all that suicide data out of that category to make his statistical point.

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it's a tuff call:
on the one hand, a heavily armed population is less easy to march off to concentration camps, less easy to threaten; but on the other hand, a heavily armed population inevitably shoots itself up a la columbine style and the countless other tragedies and accidents.

i think even a hardcore anti-gun person would have to admit that had european jews been a gun culture, they would stood a better chance of defending themselves against the nazis.

question: is there anyone left who trusts our government enough to advocate a full disarming of the US population?

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I'm not a hunter and have no real desire to be one. The thing that would interest me most would be to learn how to dress an animal for consumption. I know how to clean fish but I've never gutted an animal. It might be a skill I could find useful in the future if I were starving.

I can't be for taking away people's firearms because it is one of the steps that totalitarian regimes like to take. Being at the mercy of a dumbass hunter probably wouldn't be any worse than being at the mercy of the ATF and FBI at Ruby Ridge.

I don't think much of most hunters I see. The bums drive their big ass truck way out in the woods and then walk a little ways to ambush some game. They may seed an area to attract the wildlife and who knows what other bs they do. To me it's lazy and cruel. I might have some respect for them if they actually walked all the way to where they hunt and never used any bait. Alot of the fishermen in my area are the same way. They "need" thousands of dollars of equipment to catch some bass or crappie. What a bunch of bums.

I don't like this being done in public schools either. I don't have any problem with people teaching their children gun safety but I don't want our tax dollars going to something like this. I guess as lousy as some schools are teaching mathematics, science, and simple english maybe they do need to be taught to hunt so they'll have some way to feed themselves.

Hunting does help the environment at times in different ways. It can be alot more merciful for an animal to be shot at times instead of overpopulating an area and having massive die offs from disease and starvation. And funds raised from hunting do at times help to preserve wilderness areas. I am all for both of those aspects.

As for some of these nutcases and rednecks with guns, we all better watch out. I've seen some bad behavior and heard alot of stories about even worse. I've known hunters I think are good people but I've met more that I think nothing of whatsoever.

I wouldn't doubt if the NRA pushes this crap to try to ensure future funds and that's just sick. Leave the hunting to the woods for friends and family and stop the poachers and trespassers. And last but not least this crap doesn't belong in school.

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And I'm not a disarmed pacifist. I've had to live with a weapon at my side or in my hands for weeks at a time. I know how to use one well but I am rarely around them now(for which I'm glad) but it's nice to know if I ever need one, I will be ready. And I've never come close to shooting myself or anyone else.

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I am a farmer in Nebraska. My grandfather was a German immigrant, a religious and kindly gentleman, and also a farmer. He had also been a German soldier in the first World War. I will never forget something that happened when I was about 10 years old. One of my older brothers brought home a handgun (I think he got it from a friend), and brought it to a family gathering. Grandpa saw it, and called all of us kids around him, my brothers and my cousins. He gave us a lecture on the evils of violence and killing. Then, holding the gun in his hand, he looked at all of us and said slowly with great effect: "THIS IS AN INSTRUMENT SOLELY FOR THE TAKING OF LIFE!" To this day I can still hear him say that in his German brougue.

My dad took the gun and through it in the lake.

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Posted up there with the article...it gives me goose bumps...there's something very gruesome about a child holding a gun like that.

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Positive News
Today, good news on a couple of fronts. First, new statistics from the National Safety Council shows that accidents with firearms remain at record lows. Even more significantly, accidents involving youths continue to decline - significantly.

The trend is especially positive as the numbers of firearms owners climbs, giving credibility to the idea that training new gun owners helps assure their safety as they progress in shooting.

The 2007 NSF's "Safety Facts" report shows a 40 percent decrease in accidental firearms-related fatalities in the period from 1995 through 2005. It also shows gun accidents involving children age fourteen and under declined sixty nine percent from 1995 through 2003.

The council's most recent stats show 109,277 U.S. residents dying in accidents of all types in 2005. Less than 1 percent involved firearms. As you might imagine, motor vehicles were the highest fatality rate, with poisoning and falls joining the auto to account for seventy five percent of all accidental deaths.

These statistics are also verified by findings of the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC findings show that all four regions of the United States have enjoyed significant declines in the numbers of firearms-related fatalities.

There were 730 accidental firearms fatalities in 2005; forty percent fewer than the 1,225 deaths in 1995. And the numbers of firearms related fatalities continue to show the largest percentage decrease of all measured types of accident fatalities.

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"A kind word and a gun go further than a kind word alone."
James Butler Hickock, AKA 'Wild Bill'

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Was your grandfather Hitler? He ALSO believed in throwing the public's guns in the lake. THAT is why the Jews, Gypsies, and other minorities NEVER had a chance. The purpose of private gun ownership is not and never has been about hunting. Private gun ownership is the ultimate check on unbridled tyranny. If you doubt my words, READ the writings of the founding fathers of this nation -- they said that EXACT thing on numerous occasions.

BTW, my family fled German militarism in the last century -- unfortunately, not all of us -- and I am VERY sensitive to the bubble-headed whining of those whose political and historical ignorance could leave us all defenseless here -- and with NO place to flee this time!

Die klugen leben von den dummen; und die dummen von ihrer arbeit! Dummkopf!

In short, GET A CLUE!

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Although I own a firearm, a classic Mossberg LS that was my fathers, I'm not a hunter or a shooter.

This piece just makes no sense to me. It juxtaposes facts that bear no relation to one-another and cites quotes that state facts that have no connection.

Poor Colleen, for example, has her knickers in a wad because kids are taught gun safety. That's like being upset that kids take driver's education. After all, the leading cause of death for young men under twenty five is auto accidents, so let's ban it.

The statement that of all the deaths of kids due to firearms only 143 were accidental has no relevance what-so-ever. Adolescent social misfits that turn on classmates with Dad's guns aren't likely to be the ones that the advocacy groups will appeal to. And just think for a moment how many of those accidental deaths might have been prevented if gun safety classes had been seen by those unfortunate kids that were responsible for those tragedies.

The tone of this article is puts forth the same type argument that fundamentalists of all stripes propound. That is that being for something is being for its abuse. For example, religious fundamentalists believe that sex education will lead to promiscuity and anti-drug folks beleive that clean needle exchanges will foster a rise in drug use, even though statistics show otherwise. Ignorance in not bless!

So, folks, my point is that an educated person in a safe person, whether behind the wheel, in the sack, or in the field, and the younger the education starts, the better.

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[Between 1997 and 2003] crimes with [banned firearms] have more than doubled.... In 2002, for the fourth consecutive year, gun crime in England and Wales rose — by 35 percent for all firearms, and by a whopping 46 percent for the banned handguns. Nearly 10,000 firearms offenses were committed....

Clearly since the ban criminals have not found it difficult to get guns and the balance has not shifted in the interest of public safety....

In the four years from 1997 to 2001 the rate of violent crime more than doubled. The UK murder rate for 2002 was the highest for a century....

A recent study of all the countries of western Europe has found that in 2001 Britain had the worst record for killings, violence and burglary, and its citizens had one of the highest risks in the industrialized world of becoming victims of crime....

SO MUCH FOR GUN CONTROL!!!!!

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did you ever note that the peasants storming Dracula's Castle were only armed with pitchforks and scythes?? That's because the workers and peasants were BANNED from having ARMS. Have you dummys never studied history.??? The PROGRESSIVE thing is to ARM THE PEOPLE....

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As an Australian, and an admirer of, and frequent visitor to, the United States, your citizens fascination with guns and hunting has never ceased to amaze and puzzle me.

How is it that you can't teach sex education in some schools, you can't teach evolution in some schools, you can't teach world geography, you can't teach maths or science to a world standard in your schools but you can teach children to handle lethal weapons and you can teach them to kill living animals?

When will you realise that there is a reason why the US leads the world in both numbers of firearm deaths and the rate of firearm deaths?.....it's this paranoid obsession with guns in all their forms and the misguided belief that somehow the 2nd Amendment entitles every lunatic to own an armory.

Join the 21st century and give your guns the bullet

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It's a tragedy with today’s dwindling resources that one cent of American tax dollars are going towards teaching children how to kill for sport. The vast majority of hunting is completely unnecessary. Only a small portion of hunting can be reasonably justified in cases which one species is ruining biodiversity. And in most of these cases it's because humans (the most environmentally destructive member of the animal kingdom) has wiped out the natural predator of that species. Killing other animals and eating other animals isn't good for the environment, our health or our integrity. It's no wonder backwards states like Indiana and Kansas are leading the way here. These are the same states who try to teach creationism in public schools. It’s a shame this seems to have so much support from so-called progressives. If parents want their children to learn violence, keep it out of public education.

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Thank you for "agreeing with me completely".

Unfortunately, I CANNOT recirprocate. I suggest you re-read the writings of the founding fathers of this nation as, apparently, you missed their point regarding the second ammendment.

Synoptically, they were UTTERLY OPPOSED to a strong military and standing armies and considered them a consumate danger to freedom and liberty. By design, they ONLY supported a SMALL cadre officer corps.

Their plan for protection of this nation was that EVERY INDIVIDUAL was to be armed and a member of the militia -- an independent ad hoc irregular defense force. Thus, providing any invading enemy with a prickly porcupine of innumerable armed enemies that COULD NOT be defeated by an organized military forces. And, while those militia might not "win" a war in a conventional sense; eventually, the enemy would find any invasion to be too expensive to maintain.

They based this on their proven success in defeating the British (the superpower of their day) in the American Revolution. And, their stance was MORE than justified in that the defeat of the British was accomplished even though only about 20% of colonial residents actively supported the American Revolution. So it stood to reason that with an independent militia representing 100%, their stance was a sound military defense strategy.

Would such a plan work in today's high-tech, smart-weapon world? You BET-- regardless of the smoke-screen provided by self-serving military-industrial government sources, THAT is exactly what defeated the USA in Vietnam and is defeating us in Iraq.

All you junior-league arm-chair history channel john waynes please spare me your comments. I KNOW first-hand what I am speaking about. I served from 8 aug 66 to 7 aug 72 including stints in the 101st Airborne and was an instructor at Ft. Lewis WA -- my specialty was Techniques of Guerrilla warfare -- so I do NOT want to hear ignorant comments from wannabee idiots whose only combat experience is fighting their wife for the remote control.

Hopefully, this clarifies the Second Amendment for ALL -- bubble-headed, touchy-feely, doo-gooders and centralized, standing-army, military-industrial warfare, "super patriots" -- both of whom are unwittingly undermining this nation and cutting their own throats as well as the rest of ours.

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Well said.....an enlightened soldier. Bravo

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So let me get this right, In a country where many people think it is appropriate to educate children as young as 5 years old on sexual matters and a 14 year old can get an abortion without the consent and knowledge of the parents, some have a problem with an activity as wholesome and simple as hunting?
The are simularities between sex and gun ownership.

You will come into contact with one of those things some day.

Improper use could lead to a life changing experience or death.

Education at an early age can prevent a catastrophe later.

Now go play safe and for gods sake! Watch were you point that thing.

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Learning to handle, use and respect firearms is a good thing. From my experience, it is clear that only those who are ignorant of hunting and shooting sports oppose them. They are among the rest of liberal America who believe that their artificial way of living is the only way and they intend to impose their preferences on everyone else. They are naive enough to believe that if a criminal attacks them, there will be a policeman. . . excuse me. . . police human, close at hand to protect them. They tend to be physically and spiritually weak people, who expect government to lead them through every part of their life. In their mind, a utopia would be where everyone's resources were turned over to the government, which would then give you everything they need and make all their decisions for them. They are generally cowards, who are afraid of living a real life.
As a proud life member of the NRA, I will continue to support and promote gun ownership and all shooting sports. Remember that one of the first things Hitler did was require registration and then confiscation of all personal firearms. And next time you're confronted by a mugger, go ahead and talk him to death.

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I love hunting and watching deer and other animals and I think everyone should know how to shoot a gun. Having said that! We should never give up our right to bear arms. When you give that right up you have absolutely no voice or deterrent from total dictatorship. Also could you imagine the people who would most likely die if no more deer were ever shot. They would have to have population control or the food you eat would also be at risk without deer and other wildlife control. When I shoot a deer I eat it and it has a better taste than the beef you buy in a store and has much less added crap that makes people sick like the chemicals added to you food.
If we taught kids right from wrong at a early age we would see less violence but instead parents let there kids shoot with video games which kids think or want to imitate. My kids learned to shoot and respect a gun. They knew when a animal was shot it could not regenerate itself. By the way mine learned to shoot before they learned how to play video games. I knew I could take them in the woods and not get myself shot by them or that they would shoot there self. If you choice not to shoot a gun and deprive your kids the ability and challenge of shooting one and what would you do if your both at home and there is a home invasion. Die? Probably

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Armed crimes in 1973 in USA were 361141 incidents. In 2004 there were 338587. Rate went from 171.1 per to 115.3 per... total murders in 1973 were 13072, in and 2004 total murders were 11351, and so it goes. Armed violence in USA has been dropping. There was a slight spike upward in 2005. But still quite lower that over twenty years ago, when there were considerably less people. Percentage of robberies with firearms in 1973 were 63%. in 2004 it was 42.1%. A significant drop. Bunch of stats showing a drop. That's in good old USA from the source, not a magazine, or essay. As far as Australia, Great Britain. I just viewed a recent report from the American Society of Criminology. Here is the link.

www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/asc/ASC2004/ASC2004_slideshow.ppt

Now, they did not give the raw statistics, as did the Fed Bureau of Justice, it was a PowerPoint slide show. But it was quite academic, and supposedly objective. It showed the gun restrictions had at best, no effect, and at worst, a bad effect. And they spent million of bucks collecting the guns, and created a whole new bureaucracy, which we sure don't need.
While the USA's gun crimes are dropping, probably due to the laws permitted concealed carry of handguns. Suicide deaths, by far the greatest deaths by guns, thus not a matter of public safety, was not affected by gun control, either. Check it out, ladies. On you own.

On a personal note, all stats aside. I have been accosted and pistol whipped, robbed and worse while unarmed. I was lucky to come out of it alive. But one time in Chicago, the only other time I was accosted by thugs, I did have a Charter Arms five shot 44mag revolver on me, as I was paying workers cash on Friday evenings in bad neighborhoods. The gun was not licensed, or legal in any way, except in my, by then, quite experienced mind. I was accosted as I sat in my truck counting cash out. A thug pounded on the passenger window opposite me, pointing at me to open the door, as he brandished a club like object threatening to break the window. I simply reached in the breast pocket in my flight jacket, pulled out the "Bulldog", and pointed it at him. He disappeared, instantly. That is enough stats for me. My guys got paid, and I went home to my wife and child, safely. Happy trails, or trials, Blade.

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