Pinkos and hand-wringers like to ban things, especially things that might harm people. even faced with empirical evidence that bans don’t work and that education is the best usually the best strategy they just try to outright ban things.
In New Zealand we have some of the most restrictive firearms laws in the world, and yet liberal hand-wringers still want bans on this type of gun or that type. They even take their bans to the extreme and try and have toy guns banned or gun-play banned.
So it was with real delight that I see some Kindergartens are showing a much more enlightened way of dealing with the issue of guns and recreation with guns.
Four-year-old preschooler Lucy Coup has already earned her own gun licence.
Like the other children at her Auckland kindergarten, and in childcare centres around New Zealand, the youngster hangs the laminated licence from a string around her neck when she plays with her toy gun – but she must shoot at the target.
“We don’t shoot people, because it might hurt them,” Lucy says firmly.
Instead of banning gun play, many early education centres are adopting a policy that sees children earn a “gun licence” once they brush up on the dangers.
In Wellington, Ngaio Kindergarten is among those who have adopted the practice.
Lucy’s grandmother, Dorothy Coup, was confused when she heard that her grandchild was the bearer of a gun licence.
At first she thought Lucy must have picked up a discarded licence on the street – but when she was told her granddaughter had been given it at kindergarten, she thought it was a hoot.
“When she came home with her gun licence, I thought it was a very good compromise.
“If you’ve got little boys running around and shooting everyone and disturbing people’s play … then what a good idea.”
The licences were introduced at Te Atatu Village Kindergarten last month, after a group of rowdy boys pretended to shoot all the other children with their fingers.
Early childhood teacher Louise Samuels said teachers decided to contain the gun play, making sure children understood the real-life implications of guns and putting strict rules in place.
“What I noticed in my other workplace, when we banned it, was that the children would hide and shoot you – they get sneaky about it. The play would turn quite negative.
“We teach them you don’t leave [guns] lying on the floor, you don’t shoot people, you make sure you ask to borrow someone else’s gun.”
If a child “pretend” shoots another child, they have their gun licence revoked.
That is awesome in so many ways. Kids are learning that guns can be fun, can be enjoyed and that using and owning guns is a responsibility. They are also learning consequences for their actions. It is fantastic.
The only thing that concerns me now is that the liberal panty-waists will start a campaign to destroy this education initiative. At least it appears that those at teh top of the Kindergarten Associations know up from down and right from wrong:
Central North Island Kindergarten Association general manager Jan Ballantyne said labelling gun play as “bad” and banning it sent a mixed message to children whose fathers were hunters, farmers or in the armed services.
“For us to be making value judgments like that is quite wrong, but children need to know that there are rules. It’s important for children to know, yes, there are guns, they can kill, and there are rules around that.”
The Wellington Kindergarten Association said it was aware of some kindergartens in the area introducing the policy.
Ngaio Kindergarten head teacher Rebecca Cross said that, in the 18 months since gun licences had been introduced, they had made a positive impact.
“Children will always make guns, whether it’s in front of you or behind your back, so we thought it was better to teach them about safety.”
Children will always make guns, so this initiative is brilliant in that it teaches then early and often about firearm responsibility and safety and I am all for that.
