The metal is cool in the palm of my hand, there’s a heavy sensation that radiates power.  I steady my arm, narrow my eyes and zero in on the target.  With a slight compression of my intermediate and proximal phalanges, the tension within the gun’s barrel explodes and the bullet passes through the center of the red bull’s eye.

Thankfully, my days here at this school have never included a classmate bringing a firearm to school.  However before  something like that can happen, measures should be taken by school administrators to protect students by educating them on firearms rather than teaching them to fear something that is a constitutionally protected right of all Americans.

We commonly associate students and firearms with school shootings.  It is forgotten that although students are minors, they are capable of exercising their Second Amendment right.  The Pine Jog Environmental Education Center allows students as young as 12 to become certified in hunting safety by teaching them about firearms through the conventional textbook and hands-on method by teaching students how to properly shoot a gun.

It is a common misconception that students are incapable of handling the responsibility firearms entail, but perhaps by educating them, not just on how dangerous they can be, but how to handle them, we will reduce the amount of students who abuse them.  Gun violence among children has been steadily rising over the last two decades, emphasizing the need for gun education to be added to school’s curriculum.

Senator Lee Bright of South Carolina introduced a bill that would create new high school classes for gun training.  The class would be taught by law enforcement officials and be offered as an elective.  According to the Department of Education, there are no firearm safety classes currently part of any school curriculums nationwide.

Some states have initiated programs such as the “Eddie Eagle”, which, rather than educating students on firearm safety, teaches them to fear guns.  Part of an educator’s job is to prepare students for the future, and if the past has been any indication, gun violence is becoming an epidemic plaguing this country.  Preparing students with knowledge on firearm safety will help to make students more aware of the danger they present without just instilling fear in them.

“The Eddie Eagle program tends to glamorize guns by making them seem like something you can only use when you’re an adult – just like drinking and smoking,” said Nancy Hwa, a spokesperson for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence in an ABC news article. “You know what happens when you tell a child something like that – they want to do it more than ever.”

At this school, there is support for both sides.  Some students believe that we shouldn’t educate everyone on gun safety because it potentially puts dangerous information into the wrong hands.

“We don’t want people that aren’t in their right mind getting a hold of information that could prove detrimental to others,” band senior Blake Macqueen said.

However, there is a distinct difference between giving someone a firearm and giving someone a viable education on gun safety.  Adding gun safety classes could prove to be a lifesaving preventive measure long term.

“Firearms are no joke,” communications junior Gabriella Romano said. “The damage you could do with one can be frighteningly permanent.”