gun nut er I mean gun industry customer . Programmed and ready to shoot. What this country needs is more guns and gun owners then we will all be safer!

Guns and condoms for all!

Not the f*cking NRA, you can be sure of that.

Their #1 priority is to sell guns and ammuniton, no matter what anyone tells you.

tell them you would support this based on the funding coming from a tax on the sales of fire arms and munition ...

I have made this type of reply to suggestions about having armed guards at all schools and frankly the response has been quite entertaining each time.

Gee, what could possibly go wrong there? It's not like there aren't dozens of cases a year where a student, most often someone frequently bullied, brings a gun in and shoots the bullies and people who try to stop them from shooting the bullies.

But cases of students armed with a car trying to run over a school bully or someone they don't like, next to zero. But of course driving classes are just expensive to continue, even if we used to charge parents so much for their kids to attend the driving education course.

sports, physical education, music and vocational training - you know, what with all the test preparation.

But sure. Let's put in lessons about someone's hobby, rather than making the hobbiests responsible for the ramifications of their hobby.

However, I think baton twirling is also a very important hobby, so I fully expect that baton twirling instruction will get equal time with gun instruction in our schools.

That'll work out, just fine.

In an age of budgetary belt tightening, when school massacres occur, they don't want killers to be needlessly wasting ammunition.

This bill will never pass!

In some things they are quite normal and sane, but in other things, well, I don't know but they seem to be dingbats.

inland versus coast
wealthy versus poor
sophisticated versus never left county, mind state or country

Tied together in very tight-knit, small communities and are literally living in a different time.

The 2 ex-cops that proposed this come from very rural, poor counties where people still rely on hunting to eat and the wood they cut to heat.

They remember (and described during their testimony) when they went to high school and there was a rifle team as part of their regular phys ed curriculum.

They see "Sandy Hook" as a problem of gun safety education. They're nostalgic for a time that has long since passed. They haven't seen, and cannot conceive of, the extreme isolation and loss of community that much of the country lives in.

The ranger who stood up in qualified favor was not really in favor of their bill, but of small child education to "don't touch, get an adult" type of safety education.

The private citizen with qualified support was living in the past.

The governor's rep was against the mandate and in favor of encouraging interested parents to use existing community resources for gun training, of which there are many.

The people who stood up to oppose the bill were excellent, and included the head of superintendents, the head of principals, and several private citizens.

The legislature asked excellent questions of most, and didn't question a couple of private citizens.

of people who own guns. We also have a very small number of gun deaths each year. Every state has some legislators that are going to submit bills that won't pass because they're ridiculous. This is one of those.

If you're talking about LePage, remember he was only elected with 38% of the vote - and this past election the Tea Baggers were thrown out on their asses - and LePage will be tossed out on his ass in the next election.

The Repugs would rather have gun education than sex education. The backward bastards.

It always seems like they're wrong on everything whether it's guns, education, health care, taxation, or civil rights.

curriculum in Maine - and this particular bill will not pass.

but the GOP wants to mandate gun classes?

Funny, I read this and then turned on the tv. I recently started getting another PBS station that runs public hearings all day. And this was what was currently running.

Governor 38% is against the mandate. Has hell frozen over yet, because we are in agreement. Holy shit!

Anyway, 2 former cops offered up the proposal. Based on their testimony, the 2 key people that offered qualified support, the questioning of those people, and the people in opposition, it won't and can't happen.

First, legally the Maine legislatures has no power to mandate curriculum.
Second, there is no budget or time to support the proposal.
Third, the legislature appears to oppose post-secondary education on the use of guns. One even asked if it education on crossing streets is currently mandated.

What *may* happen is statewide encouragement of including, within health-type classes, along the lines of sex ed, good touch/bad touch and personal hygiene, a segment for kindergarten-primary kids to know what a gun looks like and if they see one 1. don't touch it 2. get an adult.

last year had an officer visit - of course they got to do the "cool stuff" like sitting in the cruiser, but the officer also talked to them about gun safety and about not touching them and to get an adult if they see one.

and on a voluntary basis, not a mandate.

It was the secondary education in handling and use and the mandate that I expect to be opposed, based on what I saw.

Woohooo

The uproar would be swift and terrible

wouldn't require the class, it would be an elective class. Not that I think the tax payers should be footing the bill for a class like this. If parents want their kids to take a gun safety course, then they can send them to a gun range on their own dime to do so.

According to the Texas bill sponsor, Rep. James White (R), kids are “resilient” enough to handle guns, which he says are no more dangerous than weightlifting or auto mechanics:

Yes because we all know how effective it is to throw weights around to kill people. And wrenches could be dangerous too. They might drop on your foot. So I can see where he's coming from.

It wasn't that long ago. We fired .22 caliber bolt action rifles. It was tremendous fun.

High Schools in some areas provide Driver's Education to people who want it, and that is a significant bit more expensive than a marksmanship training program would be.

Also some basic knowledge of guns, even if one doesn't own one is a good thing. As an example, one might find themsleves as the first person on the scene of an accident and realize that a gun was ejected from the vehicle(s) involved. It's best not to leave it laying there, a criminal may retrieve it before the police can. It's best to safely secure it until it can be handed over to the police, that means knowing how to "clear" a weapon.