Jeff Matthews

jmatthews@thetowntalk.com, (318) 487-6380

Accident prevention is not a pro-gun or anti-gun issue, it's a safety issue.

So says Blake Miguez, a competitive shooter and state representative, who successfully pushed a bill allowing school districts to instruct elementary school students in firearm safety.

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Locally, Caddo and Bossier parish school districts use their sheriff's offices as resources and both use Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office Safety Town program to teach gun safety, which includes National Rifle Association curriculum.

House Bill 446 easily passed the Legislature and was signed into law in July.

"I have my own personal views — I'm pro-Second Amendment — but this is not anti-gun or pro-gun," said Miguez, a Republican from Erath. "This is not politics. This is children's lives."

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The law gives school districts the option of providing "age- and grade-appropriate classroom instruction regarding firearm accident prevention and safety" to elementary school students. The instruction would be based on the NRA's Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program, "or a substantially similar program."

According to its website, the Eddie Eagle program is designed to keep children safe if they encounter a gun through four steps — stop, don't touch, run away, tell a grown up.

"Whether you grow up on the bayou or in New Orleans, every child should have an understanding in respect to guns and accident prevention," Miguez said. "These are not toys. The intent is when children run across a gun in an alleyway, under a park bench or at a friend's house, they don't accidentally hurt themselves or someone else."

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Miguez said his hope is "to see all school districts teaching this curriculum in some way, shape or form."

Caddo Parish Schools spokeswoman Mary Nash-Wood said the district launched a local program in November 2014 similar to one started in East Baton Rouge several years ago. The gun safety education program was offered by the U.S. Attorney's office, Caddo Sheriff's office, and Shreveport Police Department and is currently housed in the Caddo Sheriff's office, Nash-Wood said.

Students in the program learn the difference between real and toy guns and view a demonstration where officers fire a bullet into a watermelon inside a protective enclosure to demonstrate the destructive force of firearms, Nash-Wood said. Schools can request the sheriff’s office to bring the demonstration program to their schools.

Louisiana had more firearm-related deaths per capita than any state in 2014, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data. The state had 18.9 deaths per 100,000 people, which was actually a decrease from 19.3 in 2013. Louisiana has traded the No. 1 and No. 2 spot with Alaska in recent years.

According to Louisiana Law Enforcement for Gun Safety, a multi-agency group that seeks to educate state youth on gun safety and awareness, Louisiana ranks second in accidental firearm injuries and deaths among children.

"So then the question became, 'how can we reduce that without intruding on the Second Amendment?'" Miguez said.

Bossier Sheriff's office runs a number of presentations and programs for children as young as pre-school age. Spokesperson Bill Davis said the presentations use the Eddie Eagle Gun Safe Program to teach children what to do if they find themselves in the same room as a weapon.

"We teach children, If you see a gun, there are four things we want you to do," Davis said."Those are stop, don't touch, leave the area and tell an adult."

Bossier Parish Schools spokeswoman Sonja Bailes said the DARE program has been used in the district to raise awareness about firearm safety for students. Bailes said the district's school resource officers — who are Bossier Parish Sheriff's deputies — teach firearm safety through the DARE program for kindergarten through third grade students. Second graders also visit Caddo Parish Sheriff's Safety Town each year, which also integrates gun safety and the NRA's curriculum in the presentation.

Gun control continues to be a heated debate nationally, intensifying recently after mass shootings such as the December attack in San Bernardino, California. The White House has made the issue a top priority, while gun-owner advocates are lining up to fight the administration's proposed policies.

Despite his own views and the fact that the proposed instructional material comes from the NRA, Miguez insists the new law is not about promoting gun use.

He points to language in the law barring "the expression of value judgments about the use of firearms by teachers, school personnel, or any other instructors."

"It works both ways," Miguez said. "As much as I don't want people putting guns in a negative light, we also shouldn't be intruding on a parent's choice about whether to introduce their child to firearms."

Shreveport Times reporter Lex Talamo contributed to this article.