Minuteman Monthly Issue 8 (March 2001)

[Very Important Issue, please read to the end]

Welcome to the 8th issue of the Minuteman Monthly.  If you know a
friend or family member who may be interested in receiving this
newsletter, please have them point their browser to:

http://www.savetheguns.com/minuteman_monthly.htm

and register, or you can go to the same page and put them in as
someone who may be interested, and I will send them the current
issue only and a short note about what I am trying to accomplish
here at Savetheguns.com.

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Safety Tip of the Month

March's Safety Tip of the Month is a very important one and is
one of the basic safety rules for safe gun handling.

ALWAYS keep your fingers off the trigger until you have properly
acquired your target and you are ready to shoot.

There is a natural tendency to place the index finger of the
shooting hand inside the trigger guard.  Please make sure your
family and friends adhere to this rule at all times.

You must condition yourself to place the index finger alongside
the frame and not inside the trigger guard.

This is especially important with young children.  Young children
or beginners should be conditioned to place their trigger finger
alongside the frame as one of the first skills they master.

I should not have to say this, but I will anyway.  Unsupervised
children or irresponsible adults should never handle firearms.
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There is upcoming gun control legislation that is about to be
introduced into Congressional Committees in the brand new 107th
Congress.  These gun control proposals have been submitted by the
usual culprits, such as Barbara Boxer, Charles schumer, Dianne
Feinstein, Jack Reed and their ilk.

As usual, we will keep you all informed on the status of these
upcoming bills and who to contact about them.
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This Month's issue is going to center upon firearm safety and
prevention of accidents with firearms.

As many of you know, I became a Certified Firearm Instructor at
twenty-one (21) years old.  Gun safety has always been a passion
for me, especially when it comes to children.

I actually taught my first gun safety seminar before I became a
Certified Instructor.  I was asked by a co-worker to speak to his
Boy Scouts of America Cub Scout troop.  He said that they were
going to be getting into shooting in the coming year and he
wanted the kids to get acquainted with gun safety first.

I went to that Cub Scout meeting thinking I would be talking to a
few kids about gun safety, for an hour or so... little did I
know, their plan was for 75 kids and their parents, and I was
going to be on a stage for 2 1/2 hours.  I came away from that
meeting, knowing I did an ok job, but that I should have been
more prepared.  That is when I decided to become a Certified
Instructor.

If you want to share your knowledge and become a Certified
Firearm Instructor for the National Rifle Association and teach
their standardized course in your area, just contact the NRA and
ask for a schedule of local Instructor Courses.  Read more about
it at this address:

http://www.nrahq.org/safety/education/instructor.asp

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Facts About Gun Safety

The rate of accidental death related to firearms is at its
all-time low in the United States population and in regards to
children in particular.  According to the latest available
statistics, in 1998 there were 866 accidental deaths related to
firearms, included in that number was 121 among children.

This rate of accidental death has declined 91%, yes 91% from its
all-time high in 1904.  This rate has decreased even more
dramatically in recent years even though the rate of firearm
ownership has exploded.  The rate of accidental death dropped 50%
just from 1989 to 1998.

It is no coincidence that this dramatic rate drop happened about
the same time as Past NRA President, Marion Hammer's Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program for kids was being taught in schools across the nation.

If you are interested in the Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program, implemented by the Certified Firearm Instructors of the National Rifle Association, please feel free to call toll-free 1-800-231-0752.  Or go here:

http://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/

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Tragedy in over 100 Families

I just mentioned that in 1998 alone, 121 families had to cope
with the needless and very avoidable death of a child due to the
mishandling of a loaded gun.

This year, the rate is expected to still be very close to 100
families.  Over 100 families will be forced to deal with the
tremendous and devastating loss of a young family member.

The word about gun safety and children is getting out, but it
MUST get to every American family.  Every family must receive
this life preserving information.

That is precisely why I created my web page entitled "For Kids
Only".  This page can be found at:

http://www.savetheguns.com/for_kids_only.htm


Please tell everyone you can about this page.  Pass the address
of this page out to everyone in your address book, all your
friends, relatives, co-workers and acquaintances.  Who knows, you
might help save a family from having to deal with this crushing
tragedy.

There is about one (1) child killed by an accidental firearm
discharge every three (3) days.  Which two (2) American families
will this happen to this week?  Will it be someone in your State
or city?

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I Was Recently Contacted

I was sent an e-mail from a man whose eleven (11) year old son
was killed at a neighbor's house.  His son went next door one
Saturday morning and his twelve (12) year old neighbor decided to
show off his Dad's new handgun that was "hidden away".

He thanked me for my "For Kids Only" page and said that it was
too late for his son to see it, but that he would pass it around
to everyone he knew.  Why not pay a visit and send the address
out to your loved ones before this particularly dreadful tragedy
hits someone you know.

I now have a "Kid's Test" page linked from the "For Kids Only"
page.  This is a test where the kids are presented with a
scenario and are asked to make a choice on what to do next.  My
own voice is linked to this test and my own voice will tell them
if they made a proper choice.

This "Kids Test" is my least hit page on the entire Web site!!!
Can you send a child there this week!?!?!

http://www.savetheguns.com/kids_test.htm

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Childproofing Guns or Gunproofing Children

I have always taught and thought that it is much more important
to gun-proof a child than it is to "child-proof" a gun.  However,
common sense and sometimes State law dictates that a sound
approach to both avenues is better.

I taught my first child about firearms and how to shoot, when he
was just four and a half (4.5) years old.  He showed
responsibility, an interest in guns and a capacity to learn at an
early age.  
(Police officer, firearm instructor and writer,
Massad Ayoob was also taught how to shoot at four (4) years old.)

Because I did this very early and very thoroughly, I have every
confidence that he will enjoy a lifetime of good safety sense
around firearms.

To treat your guns as "forbidden fruit" like Adam and Eve's apple
in the Bible, is the wrong approach.  This will only serve to
pique curiosity and might encourage them to investigate on their
own.

The age at which it is best to teach a child can vary greatly
with the individual child in question.  Whenever they meet the
above requirements of responsibility, interest and the ability to
assimilate knowledge is a good time to start.  Only the involved
parent can make this judgment call.

It is fundamental to teach the basic rules of safe gun handling,
and the myriad of other rules regarding gun safety, but it is
even more important to get across the proper attitude so very
necessary for a lifetime of firearm enjoyment.

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Three Basic Rules

Just in case you have not heard these before, here are the three
(3) basic rules for safe gun handling.

1.)  ALWAYS point the barrel of the gun in a safe direction.  A
safe direction is defined as a direction where if the gun
discharged, nobody would get hurt.  The best direction to point a
gun is generally at the ground and to the side.  (not at your
feet  :-) ).  This is the Golden Rule of Gun Safety.  If everyone
followed this one rule, it would bring an end to accidental
firearm related deaths.

2.)  ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready
to fire.  There is a natural tendency to place the index finger
inside the trigger guard.  This MUST be avoided.  Condition
yourself to place your shooting hand index finger along the side
of the frame.

3.)  ALWAYS Keep the action open and the gun unloaded until you
are ready to use it.  The action is the moving parts of the gun
that allow loading, unloading, firing and extraction of the empty
case or shell.  If you are not ready to use it, keep the action
open.

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Storage

Safe storage of firearms and ammunition is an essential and key
ingredient in preventing tragedy from visiting your home.

There are security cabinets, lockable cases and small safes
available for $150.00 or less.  You don't have to spend $2000.00
for a State of The Art safe that weighs a ton.

Like I said on my site's gun safety pages, if you are simply
"hiding" a loaded firearm in your home, you could be sending out
an open invitation to a crushing tragedy.  If you feel you want
to have a readily available firearm for home defense, there are
plenty of products out there to assist you.  Such as secure
handgun boxes that attach to the bed frame or personal handgun
safes that open with just a touch, that a child cannot access and
many others.

I never recommend that a parent "hide" the key to their gun safe
in the home.  I think it is important that the key be kept on
their personal key chain whenever possible.  Parents always
thought that they kept their stash of candy in a well hidden
place, but as always, the child seems to be able to find things
that you thought were effectively hidden.
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You Have Reached The End

This is the end of my Gun Safety Issue of the Minuteman Monthly.
Please forward this newsletter to everyone you know.  Post it in
supermarkets.  Put it up at the mall.  Post it in bulletin
boards.  Put it up at your gun club and anywhere else you can
think of.

It is extremely important that we get accidental death related to
firearms as close to zero as possible, and forwarding this
newsletter out to friends and family will definitely make a
difference.

Most of the gun safety information in my brain is on three web
pages.

http://www.savetheguns.com/for_kids_only.htm
http://www.savetheguns.com/safety_rules.htm
and
http://www.savetheguns.com/firearms_101.htm

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