Replies

Check out this stupid article and asks yourself what one of these punk kids will do if he comes home and a couple guys are raping his mom?
He's just gonna' peacefully talk it out with them?

Gun violence spurs students to act
By JILL PALERMO
DAILY NEWS STAFF
They say they don’t worry about guns at school — or anywhere else.

But in a town where plenty of people hunt and even more wear military uniforms, they know some kids have access to guns.

And that’s why the Jacksonville High School Student Council got involved in a nationwide pledge against gun violence.

“We all know there’s a possibility someone could have a gun,” said Jessica Bucklew, a 17-year-old senior.

“But it’s remote,” added William Gerichten, also a senior.

“I think it’s not even a threat,” said Ben McGlaughon, 17.

“But if you know there’s something being done about it, it makes you feel better.”

JHS is one of several Onslow County middle and high schools collecting signatures for “The Student Pledge Against Gun Violence.”

By signing the one-page pledge, students make this promise: “I will never bring a gun to school. I will never use a gun to settle a dispute. I will use my influence with my friends to keep them from using guns to settle disputes.”

Nearly 3,000 Onslow students have signed the pledge, and the number is rising, said Anna Morgan, a Navy mom spearheading the local effort. She hopes to collect at least 5,000 signatures to contribute to the nationwide goal of 6 million.

Mary Lewis Grow, a Minnesota mother and anti-violence activist, developed the pledge five years ago. Morgan said she became interested when she read an article about Grow and the pledge in a national magazine.

Morgan says she’s not the typical anti-gun type. She and her husband, a Navy corpsman, own guns but keep them locked up and away from their two small children.

The pledge, Morgan said, is not against guns. It’s about empowering kids to take control of a problem affecting their generation.

“I just like the idea of somebody having enough faith in the kids of today to let them have the power to control something in their own lives,” she said.

Are guns a problem in Onslow County Schools?

Assistant Principal Darin Cloninger said JHS has had no gun-related incidents this year.

But having a gun turn up at a local school is not unheard of. According to the 2000-01 Annual Report on School Violence, the most recent available, Onslow County Schools reported two incidents involving possession of a firearm on campus.

After Morgan contacted JHS about the pledge, Cloninger offered the idea to the student council, who ran with it.

“In high schools, you hear all the horror stories,” he said. “But we really have a lot of concerned and conscientious students Â… who want to do the right thing.”

According to statistics compiled by Grow’s organization, 30,000 people die nationwide as a result of gun violence a year, and about 4,000 of them are under the age of 19.

Since 1998, organizers have declared a “Day of National Concern about Young People and Violence” to draw attention to the pledge.

This year, that day was Oct. 24 — the same day Maryland police arrested the D.C. snipers.

“The fact that one of the snipers ended up being a 17-year-old should make kids think about it a little more,” McGlaughon said. “It’s not older white men who are doing this kind of serial killing. It’s kids, too.”

Contact Jill Palermo at jpalermo @jdnews.com or at 353-1171,ext. 228.

Why didn't we think of that? All we need to do is get folks to sign a pledge not to use guns to settle their disagreements, or to bring them to school!

If only Harris and Klebold had signed such a pledge, I am sure Columbine would not have happened. That pledge would have stopped them cold, they would never have gone on a murder rampage if it meant viloating their pledge.

(The naivete of liberals never ceases to amaze.)

well, let me see, now...
I have taught over 300 adults how to shoot pistols or rifles or both.
I have taught over 50 children how to shoot pistols or rifles or both.
I have subbed for the local game wardens in teaching hunting safety classes (which is a great deal - it lands me a lot of venison confiscated from poachers).
So far as I know, NONE of my students has EVER had an accidental discharge of any sort, far less an injurious or fatal one.
ALL of the kids I have taught (and I take 'em as young as 8 years old, if I think they are mature enough) know damn well what to do if they find a firearm lying about. If it is in a position where no one is likely to stumble across it, they are to leave it in place and get their parents or closest responsible relation - failing that, they are to get the police. If there is a chance that someone else might stumble upon the weapon, they know how to safely remove it to a secure location and do the alert-the-adults drill.
ALL OF MY STUDENTS BELOW THE AGE OF 18 GET THE WATERMELON LESSON.
Go ahead, ask... I dare ye ;)