Author: thomaswilson1972

It never ceases to amaze those of us who have our feet firmly planted on the ground how some people can come up with such outrageous thoughts and concepts regarding firearms and their views on gun control, that the rest of us with a thinking brain can sit back and wonder to ourselves whether the lights are on or not. Let’s not try to cover up the fact that most in Hollywood already have a very loose grip on reality as the rest of us. One has to face the fact that Hollywood, for the most part, is based upon fantasy and not so much on true reality. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that can be a great, we all need to escape our own reality to stay sane, but Hollywood seems to have cornered the market on doing so a bit too thoroughly. Everyday life can have many ups, downs and struggles for everyone. Sitting down in front of the TV or movie screen can help to heal the psyche,  but one should not escape into fantasy on a permanent basis. We sit back and watch Hollywood create the most unlikely of heroes and watch them overcome insurmountable odds to save some spinoff of America or the world. Yes it can make for good TV, but this is just not reality. We must demand from Hollywood the ability to remember that we should not confuse what is seen on TV screen with the actual real world. Most things in life do not end up like they do in the movies or TV. The rest of us get this concept, I am not sure why Hollywood can not grasp the concept. I have always been taught that one should educate themselves before speaking on any subject, but yet we see Hollywood open mouth to insert foot. Not only is it tragic, but it is even more scary. I say this because most of today’s children see Hollywood as “Heroes,” and they try to emulate them. This is a very slippery slope and as a society we need to fix it before it is too late. We need to teach our children the differences between TV or the movies and true reality.

The NRA has implemented a program that  started in 2015. Today we live in a society that allows us access to all the information that we could ever want to learn. You can look up the local weather from where ever you are for your next hunting trip, find out where the closest shooting range or firearms classes are being held, or find out just about anything you want on the internet. The key advantage to that freedom is a great opportunity to connect with friends, communities or organizations who share your specific interests. This is especially true with the advent of online courses.

The NRA’s Director of Hunter Services, Peter Churchbourne and his team have taken those concepts and helped to apply this idea to the hunting community. They are conceptualizing an exciting new way to help build a strong future for the hunting traditions. He states this is “the most encompassing and engaging Hunter Education course in the world.”

The NRA Hunter Education program is formatted in an online class that allows the student to choose any state to take the Hunters Education course. This can be done in the comfort of the student’s own home and the course is geared for any level of learning because the course can be taken at the student’s own pace. You can take the course all at once or complete sections as your time permits. Students also have the ability to browse back in the lessons if they have any questions or need to refresh the lessons. The NRA provides these courses not only for the home computer, there is also an app on their mobile devise.

This concept was developed in 2015 when coordination was established to set up individual state’s courses. In order to expand the program, it can be developed to the specific rules and regulations of each state without any extra cost burdened on the state. The NRA has at this time three states courses up and running at NRAHE.org. The course is ready to train hunters in Connecticut, Florida and Oregon. In the near future, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona will follow suit.

Churchbourne states, “Hunters are one of the most regulated sportsmen in the United States, so it makes sense to be as educated as you possibly can.” The NRA has always held this belief when it comes to firearms, the use of firearms and firearms safety. The course is designed to accomplish this task with a comprehensive and clear layout which is sure to some of the safest and most educated generations of hunters to date. For those who are visual learners, this is a dream come true. The course has videos, diagrams, images, audio recordings and interactive modules.

This course is being offered absolutely free of charge and introduces the best way of teaching future hunters the lessens that will no doubt stay with them for life. It also encourages would be hunters to take  the first step and allows for experienced hunters to re-educate themselves. All students have to do is visit NRAHE.org and create an account.

With the creation of this new course, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has announced that state wildlife enforcement agencies may now claim a dollar value of the NRA’s Free Online Hunter Education Course. In other words the USFWS can ask for  match dollars to access the federal Pittman-Robertson grant funds. This can be seen as a big win for the NRA and the state wildlife agencies because they rely heavily on the P-R money which is distributed by the USFW’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) Division. The money is used for their conservation programs. This will help to support and strengthen the states hunter recruitment and the NRA-supported R3 movement(Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation.)

I would like to take the time to send out a very heartfelt and grateful Thank You to the Washington Emergency Squad. We are so indebted to the Washington Emergency Squad for their support over the last few years, especially in  allowing us to be able to use their meeting room facility so that we may offer the Home Firearms Safety Courses at their building. Not only were they very accommodating with our instructors schedules, their support behind the scenes has helped us be able to offer these classes to the greater Washington area. There are never enough words to show our deep gratitude to the Washington Emergency Squad that we are. We look forward to many years of partnership with the Washington Emergency Squad.

I personally would like to Thank Joe Groff for the countless hours and phone calls and text messages coordinating the schedule. Joe, you have helped me in ways you do not know. For this, I will always be indebted to you. Thank You Again.

Does your child know what to do if they encounter or find a firearm?

The National Rifle Association has created a firearms accident prevention program which helps parents, law enforcement, educators and community groups to help cover a topic that is extremely important to our children’s safety.The mission of the program is to teach children pre-kindergarten through the fourth grade what to do if he or she encounters a firearm when they are either by themselves or with friends and without adult supervision.

The Eddie Eagle Program teaches children to ” Stop, Don’t Touch, run away, tell a grown up.”

This is a great program that we believe should be taught to every child so that we can lessen the chances of any childs’ lives of being cut short by a preventable accidents. It would be a great idea if this program was provided to every child in school from the day they start until they reach the fourth grade. We believe this to be a small price to pay to keep our children safe.

Our position on firearms in homes where children are present is very cut and dry. We believe that if you choose to exercise your constitutional right to keep and bear arms, you also have a responsibility to your children and the rest of society to not only keep these firearms safe and out of the hands of children, but to also teach your children the proper safety precautions needed to insure safe firearm practices. This means, that when you as the parent believe your child is mature enough, and is capable of understanding what you are teaching them, to teach your children about firearms and how to safely use and handle them. We do not believe that there should be a government mandate at what age this should be done because each child is different and children develop at different rates. Children are inherently curious about most things, especially things that they are told that they can not see, touch or hold. It is incumbent upon all parents who have firearms in the home to protect our children and the best way to do this is to take the curiosity or stigma away from the firearm and teach children that it is not a toy. Children also need to be taught that what they see on TV is fake and that firearms are dangerous and why they are dangerous. They also need to be taught that what they see on TV regarding death is fake and that death is permanent. This is the only way to ensure that children understand the consequences of playing with firearms.

Growing up in northwestern New Jersey it was not uncommon for many homes to have firearms. This is mostly due to the fact that a lot of people in this region hunt. As a young child we were taught to respect firearms and not to play with them. We were taught that firearms were a tool to be used in certain circumstances and we were responsible enough to heed the lessons taught by our parents. We must all work to make our children safer in today’s world.

For more information on the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program, please visit the link below:

NRA Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program