Posted on 09/01/2003 10:25:55 AM PDT by Stew Padasso
Bill promotes anti-gun teaching in schools?
Group fears 2nd Amendment will be downplayed, ridiculed
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 1, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jon Dougherty © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
A national gun organization is urging its members to contact their legislators in opposition to a bill it says will lead to more anti-gun education in public schools.
Virginia-based Gun Owners of America claims H.R. 1078, which establishes "academies for teachers and students of American history and civics and a national alliance of teachers of American history and civics," would further erode support for the Second Amendment.
A version of the bill has passed the Senate, but the House bill remains in the House Education and Workforce Committee. It was introduced by Rep. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and has 220 co-sponsors.
According to a summary, the bill would direct the chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities to award competitive grants to nonprofit educational institutions to "establish presidential academies for teaching of American history and civics to offer workshops for teachers of American history and civics" and "congressional academies for students of American history and civics to offer workshops for outstanding students of American history and civics."
Kyle Steward, a spokesman for Wicker's office, told WorldNetDaily his boss had not heard of GOA's concerns. Also, he said there are no "anti-gun" provisions in the curriculum, which has yet to be developed.
GOA officials, however, are concerned that such academies, if established, will continue what it perceives as an anti-gun bias in the public schools, and "will use anti-gun texts … that conform to the federal guidelines on teaching civics and history."
One such text, called "We the People," encourages students "to start questioning the wisdom of the Second Amendment, asking the student whether the right to keep and bear arms is still as 'important today' as it was in the 18th century, and to decide what 'limitations' should be placed on the right," GOA said.
"This kind of discussion treats the Second Amendment as though it were not protecting a God-given, individual right," said the group.
Government-mandated guidelines, GOA says, focus on issues such as multiculturalism and other ideology-driven curriculum with a focus on downplaying the importance of gun rights.
The academies also are a bad idea, says the group, because the federal government is already too involved in education.
"If kids are never taught there are limits to the federal government's power, then we shouldn't be surprised when tomorrow's leaders don't have problems passing gun control legislation," said the GAO letter.
Maybe that you should have no 2A rights if you're on the public payroll? ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.