Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
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From: alane@microsoft.com (Alan Ezekiel)
Subject: Re: The Dayton Gun "Buy Back" (Re: Boston Gun Buy Back)
Message-ID: <1993Apr22.221159.17514@microsoft.com>
Date: 22 Apr 93 22:11:59 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation
References: <8110357@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> <C5uCHu.FFn@cbnews.cb.att.com> <VEAL.762.735411536@utkvm1.utk.edu>
Lines: 63

>lvc@cbnews.cb.att.com (Larry Cipriani) writes:
>
>>According to WNCI 97.9 FM radio this morning, Dayton, Ohio is operating a
>>gun "buy back".  They are giving $50 for every functional gun turned in.
>>They ran out of money in one day, and are now passing out $50 vouchers of
>>some sort.  They are looking for more funds to keep operating.  Another
>>media-event brought to you by HCI.
>>
>>Is there something similar pro-gun people can do ?  For example, pay $100
>>to anyone who lawfully protects their life with a firearm ?  Sounds a bit
>>tacky, but hey, whatever works.

As David Veal points out, this sort of "promotion" would be used
against gun owners by the mass media.

However, here is my proposal: offer gun safety classes in your area,
free, as a community service.  Such a class would normally cost $40
or $50, so offering it free is a good promotion.

Our Gun Club has organized several of these (we just finished
teaching another one last night, in fact) and they have been
very well received.  We get a lot of people who are novices
interested in guns.  We even get a few who are anti-gun, but
feel they should know something about "gun safety" since members
of their family keep guns at home.

Teaching such a course gives us many desirable benefits:

(1) We have the chance to teach gun safety rules; this increases
    firearm awareness and may help to reduce gun accident stats.

(2) A "gun safety" class is Politically Correct, and likely to
    be viewed positively by the public and the media.

(3) Most of the students are 'normal people' (not gun enthusiasts)
    and this kind of class gives us the chance to give them a
    gentle introduction to firearms.

(4) Some of the students are enthusiastic, and will purchase a gun
    and become more involved in shooting or personal defense.

(5) It improves the public perception of our club and gun owners
    in general.  Our students see that we are all reasonable,
    non-aggressive, soft-spoken people, which helps to mitigate
    the standard image of a hardcore gun owner.  Even anti-gun
    students sometimes tell us they have "something new to think
    about" with regards to personal gun ownership.

(6) Sharing our experience with others is a lot of fun.

Our course is the standard NRA-certified "Home Firearm Safety"
class, and our students pay only $5 for materials.  We also
teach the NRA's "Personal Protection" class, although the cost
is higher for that one since we have to purchase range time.

I think firearms safety classes are an excellent response to
gun buy-backs.

                               -- Alane --
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