Children and guns.

For some kids, guns are part of their lives. They grow up with parents who enjoy hunting and they are taught respect for weapons and how to properly and safely handle them. They inherit the love of hunting from their parents and it's all part of growing up. For others unfamiliar with firearms, the discovery of a handgun that a parent thought had been safely hidden away -- or carelessly left in easy reach -- can often lead to tragedy.

Such a scenario illustrating how an unsecured weapon can change lives forever played out last week in Ocean County when the father of a 4-year-old Toms River boy who shot and killed his 6-year-old friend was sent to prison for three years.

Anthony Senatore, who described himself as a sportsman and a hunter at his sentencing, said he had made "one horrible mistake" by leaving a weapon unsecured and accessible to his young son who found the gun and killed his young friend.

One mistake is all it takes. As Senatore said, "one terrible lapse of judgment" changed the lives of his family and that of his son's little neighbor.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Proper training for both kids -- and adults -- can help to prevent such tragedies.

At the Myron L. Powell School in Cedarville, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department recently presented the National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle GunSafe program at an assembly there.

For kids in the area, guns are a part of their life. Either family members hunt or are involved in law enforcement. A show of hands at the school proved that among the 500 children who attended the program.

"We're not teaching them to be pro or negative guns," said Cumberland County Sheriff Robert Austino. "We're teaching them how to be safe around guns."

The day prior to the assembly, parents of the children were invited to the Powell School to hear about what their children would be part of.

Anti-gun groups say such programs do nothing but try to glorify guns and get kids interested in them just as the Joe Camel ads were said to have targeted children, urging them to light up.

Afterward, the elementary school children said they had learned things they never knew. The point was gun safety.

If one young life is saved from being marred by a gun accident, that's a plus.

It often all comes down to culture. Growing up on a farm or rural area is different than life in the city. Pro-gun and anti-gun advocates often clash because they don't understand why the other believes as they do or they just don't want to listen and learn.

Guns must be treated with respect.

All sides on the gun issue need to do the same with one another.

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