Nguyen argues that it’s all about preventing accidental guns deaths and that the instruction does not include teaching youth how to actually use guns or how to hunt. Which, okay. But why are we mandating that the NRA does this? And why are we requiring it by law? Should liquor companies be mandated to talk to kids about drunk driving? Have vape producers written into law to come and show how nicotine impacts your lungs? Come on.
Interestingly, as Jerod MacDonald-Evoy at Arizona Mirror points out, while Nguyen purports that the NRA wouldn’t be giving organization-related material to students, that’s not quite the case. The bill would require schools to use the “Eddie Eagle” safety program. It’s a program that’s been around since the late ‘80s and is meant to teach young children about gun safety, but it’s not terribly popular, likely due to it being ineffective and, again, not something the NRA needs to be leading.
With that said, Ngyuen really doubled down all students needing to take the class, describing it as a “safety” issue. When Democratic Rep. Daniel Hernandez, for example, suggested that parents should be allowed to opt into the program instead of mandating it, Ngyuen said that didn’t fly with him. As written, the bill requires all students to take it until parents opt them out.
Republican Rep. John Kavanagh claimed he couldn’t think of any parent “in their right mind” who wouldn’t want their child in the program. He went on to say he would “forward the name and address of the parent to child protective services if they opted out of this.”
If you’re thinking, “Huh, wait a minute. That name sounds familiar. Isn’t that the guy pushing a parental consent bill that would require minors to get consent from their parents in order to join an LGBTQ+ club at school?”
Why yes, that is the same guy. Isn’t it funny how students need to risk outing themselves (or their peers) to parents in order to join an identity-based, optional, extracurricular club, but when it comes to mandated class, parents should be reported to CPS if they don’t want their child attending a lesson? Huh. Interesting how that hypocrisy works.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, the bill passed and now heads to the House for a vote.