An Arizona school gun violence contract has sparked some unintended outrage this week. As you can see in the above video, the debate began when the Flowing Wells Unified School District in southern Arizona sent home a contract for parents to sign for the new 2013/2014 school year.
The Arizona school’s anti-gun violence contract asked students to agree not to bring guns to school. And the parents are asked to sign a form stating that they’ll keep guns locked away from kids. They’re also asked to teach their children about the dangers of gun violence.
So what?
It just seems like common sense to me and the makers of that Huffington Post video.
But people are getting upset. Have we just misunderstood what the contract really says?
Hmm. Gun Owners of Arizona has posted the entire gun violence contract on their site, where you could still see it at the time of writing.
Students must sign the contract acknowledging that they’ve been told that it’s a criminal offense to bring a gun to school. Therefore, they will agree not to bring guns to school and to report it if somebody else does.
Parents are also asked to sign the form acknowledging that they’ve been told the rules as well. They will agree not to allow their kids to carry guns.
But here’s the language that apparently offends GOAZ, since it’s the words that they chose to highlight in bold: “I will keep any guns and all weapons I own under lock, away from school grounds, and away from my children.”
Seems legit to me.
But a look at the Gun Owners of Arizona Facebook page revealed that plenty of locals are plenty excited about the Flowing Wells, Arizona school district gun violence contract.
“Parents need to tell them to shove that paper where the sun doesn’t shine! Who are they to ask this of parents?” one poster wanted to know.
The local KVOA news station in nearby Tucson picked up on the story.
The short version is that Ken Rineer of GOAZ doesn’t want parents to sign something that calls for them to lock up their guns. “If you’re getting your house broken into, you don’t want to have to open up a gun safe and try to get your firearm out to defend yourself and your family,” he said.
However, the Flowing Wells school district said it’s a voluntary pledge that parents can sign or ignore as they choose.
So why bother shipping the Arizona school gun violence contract to begin with? Maybe it’s just a good way to inform kids that they’ll face criminal charges if they show up at Flowing Wells school with a gun.
[model with gun photo by prochasson frederic via Shutterstock ]