Last week, the General Assembly approved a bill amended by Governor Bob McDonnell which allows local school boards to offer gun safety programs in elementary schools, so long as they follow the guidelines of a National Rifle Association program. The NRA launched its "Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program" in 1988, and makes explicit the distance between Eddie and the organization: "The program never mentions the NRA. Nor does it encourage children to buy guns or to become NRA members."
The crux of the debate over the bill, which becomes law on July 1, is that local school boards must incorporate Eddie Eagle’s rules. A member of Virginians for Public Safety cried fowl foul in a Washington Post story, and said that material for gun safety courses "should not be the exclusive domain of the gun lobby." Apparently, McGruff the Crime Dog didn’t make the cut.
As it turns out, Albemarle County Sheriff’s Office makes Eddie Eagle available for local organizations and schools; he made a recent appearance at Yancey Elementary School to address roughly 80 students involved in Club Yancey. C-VILLE is working on a story about Eddie’s local presence and wants your input: Is the bird onto something? Specifically, do Albemarle and Charlottesville elementary schools need gun safety courses? If so, do we need input from a source other than the NRA’s eagle?
Watch Eddie in action below, courtesy of the NRA’s YouTube channel: