GAT Guns in East Dundee has taken a lot of heat recently because they started offering classes to teach children as young as 7 years old about gun safety and how to shoot a weapon.
I first became aware of this when the manager of GAT Guns and a class instructor appeared on the WGN morning news to defend the class.
As I have mentioned in previous articles, despite being a communication major, I rarely watch the news. As I turned on my television last Friday, the opening sequence for this interview was playing.
It featured video footage of young children being instructed on how to properly hold and fire guns.
In shock, I paused a moment to get more information. I could not think of any plausible reason for a child to be shooting a gun, under any circumstance.
When asked for the logic behind hosting a class like this, the manager explained, “The most dangerous thing around a gun is somebody who doesn’t know anything about them.
So the younger that you can get to someone and teach them safety with guns, the sooner they’re safe around them.”
The anchors followed up by asking how they explain the issue of gun violence to children that young and he replied “We don’t talk about gun violence because we’re not covering that topic.”
He goes on to explain that the class focuses specifically on how to safely fire a gun and how to behave around them. Call me crazy, but teaching kids how to fire a gun while neglecting to teach them the implications of firing that gun and the harm it can cause sounds like a dangerous game.
I have two nephews, ages four and six. They’re very smart and intuitive, but, like all young kids, they’re impulsive. You teach them how to swing a baseball bat and for that moment it is an object of play and recreation.
However, during a tantrum or a moment of anger, it becomes a weapon. I am not saying that it is impossible to teach children right from wrong, but we have to consider where they are in their development.
In that moment of anger, they may not be able to quickly remember that mommy and daddy told them only to use the baseball bat on the baseball field, not to swing it at their brother.
Once we teach them what something is, how to use it and give them access to it, it is very difficult to ensure they that understand the proper time and place for its use.
And for kids that are a little bit older, the media plays a huge role. They are likely going to watch movies, tv shows and internet media that glamorize the use of guns. They are still at a point where the accurate and consistent separation of fantasy and reality may not be fully developed.
I fear that having access to a gun and knowing how to use it safely will make children far more comfortable with guns in general and more likely to pick one up even if they’re not in danger.
I am assuming that, with classes like this, the hope is that the professionals will teach your child how to use the gun and the parents are responsible for teaching them when it is appropriate to use it. But the truth is that we can never really be sure that this additional information is taught and understood.
I fully believe that if you’ve decided to own or carry a gun, you need to know how to operate it safely. As parents and caregivers your goal should be to protect the children from things they’re not mentally and physically prepared to handle, so how soon is too soon to put a gun in their hands?
Bridget Goedke
Senior Viewpoints Editor
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