South Carolina Legislators Introduce Bills to Teach Gun Safety in Public Schools

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As reported by CSM’s Husna Haq, lawmakers in South Carolina have introduced two pieces of legislation that would mandate gun safety courses and “Second Amendment-related curricula” for public school students. According to Haq, the bills were filed in protest of zero-tolerance policies on guns in state schools.

“Rep. [Alan] Clemmons told South Carolina’s The Greenville News that he was inspired to create the bill after hearing the story of a student who was arrested at school over a fictional essay he wrote in which he talked about buying a gun to kill a neighbor’s pet dinosaur.

That sort of zero-tolerance attitude towards guns in schools, Clemmons told a local South Carolina paper, is undermining knowledge of, and respect for, the Second Amendment.”

Rep. Clemmons’ bill would call for the observance of Second Amendment Awareness Day on Dec. 15 and “establish a three-week educational unit, for all grade levels” focused on the US Constitution and the Second Amendment. Haq reports that the bill includes a clause that any Second Amendment-related curricula would need to be created or approved by the National Rifle Association.

The second piece of legislation, introduced by state Sen. Lee Bright, would allow South Carolina schools to make courses on gun safety available as electives:

“If passed, the bill would allow schools to bus students off-campus to gun ranges, where they would learn about gun safety as well as how to use guns.”

Haq writes that these bills would be a tough sell to all necessary parties even if the legislature makes them law. She cites recent efforts in several states to arm teachers, a response to the Dec. 14, 2012 Sandy Hook shootings. Even though seven states actually passed legislation, most efforts to enact it ultimately failed when schools found it impossible to secure insurance coverage if they allowed guns on campus.

For more on this story, be sure to read Haq’s piece (linked below). What’s your opinion on this proposed legislation? Give us your take in the comments below.