Safety Instruction Before Gun Ownership

We the undersigned request assistance in getting legislation proposed or written requiring safety classes prior to long gun or all gun ownership. Too many innocent people are gone because no one will touch this issue. Yet even Republican gun owners like Dick Cheney know how easily an accident can happen. To allow kids to handle long guns with no prior exposure or experience is not what the Second Amendment intended. In today's world, there is a whole tribe of young American men who grew up with no real male influence in their households. Boys are coming of age listening to hardcore gangsta rap, playing Medal of Honor and other video games and thinking gun ownership is not just a right, but a necessary component to manhood. Shouldn't they be taught responsibility and possibility instead of simply gaining access to something with the power to ruin their lives as well as the lives of everyone else involved?

We teach kids how to use condoms in public schools and hope that protects them from communicable diseases and unplanned pregnancies. There are laws requiring safety classes for motorcyclists and scuba divers and licensing required before a kid can get behind the wheel of a car. The army wouldn't let any one of its recruits near a loaded gun without teaching them proper handling and safety rules. We know that the NRA is a powerful group, but we have to believe at least some of its members are reasonable and rational beings with kids in college or on the street and at risk because other people want to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms yet don't have the sense or maturity to seek out instruction.

You would not believe the number of young men and women who "chill" where firearms are kept unlocked and unsupervised. It is this horrific reality that was the impetus for this petition. Morris Stein was killed January 17, 2008, in his apartment less than two months after leaving home to attend college in a senseless tragic accident with a shotgun held by a young man who had been one of his best friends since they were both about 8 years old. A law requiring safety instruction prior to gun ownership will keep this unnecessary tragedy from occurring again.

Once a child turns 18 he or she is able to do many potentially dangerous things without parental knowledge or consent. In this case, it is up to the government to protect our future leaders from their own inexperience. 

Thank you.