LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — A gun safety course could be coming to an elementary school near you. The Missouri legislature passed legislation and Governor Jay Nixon signed it Friday. It makes teaching the NRA sponsored Gun Safe Program “optional” in Missouri classrooms.
The cartoon character Eddie Eagle has been around for decades and it appears he’s coming back to teach kids what to do if they find a gun.
A Lee’s Summit teen agrees with the legislation, she learned first-hand how dangerous a gun can be. Ally Howe went to a friends’ house in February of 2012. A gun was found and it went off. Ally was hit in the head and nearly died.
18 months later she’s almost fully recovered. However she’s lost some hearing and a small part of her vision. Both constant reminders of what happened. But, Ally said the Eddie Eagle program could keep others from going through what she did.
“I think it’s definitely something that’s good to learn at a early age, because the earlier you know the precautions of not picking up or playing with any kind of like firearm, so you don’t have any accidents like I did so you don’t get hurt and have to go through anything bad like I did.
No metro school districts have decided whether or not to add the optional course to the first grade curriculum.
