It’s the most wonderful time of the the year – the second half of August, when kids going back to school. That means more morning traffic and sometimes getting stuck behind those frequently-stopping big yellow land barges. In California, that also means taxpayer-funded government schools promoting the agenda of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership. The Fremont Union High School District recently sent the above letter to about 10,000 students and their parents. A reader who wishes to remain anonymous had a few questions . . .
* Did the Brady Campaign help fund the photocopying and mailing expenses?
* Is it appropriate for the public school district to be endorsing, let alone promoting, a partisan advocacy group that engages in political lobbying?
* It seems contradictory to propose that they’re “helping keep students safe by keeping guns out of the hands of students.” The only real way to teach gun safety is to have students see and touch a real gun, otherwise your teaching is superficial and based on paranoia.
* With all the misinformation students now get about guns from movies, television shows and videogames, you would think this is one area where the schools and parents could and should correct misinformation by providing a safe environment for real experiential learning. Does this letter further that goal?
* The other papers that were included in the same envelope with this letter were translated into Spanish and Chinese. Why was this letter not translated like those were?
* The other papers that were in the same envelope with this letter were focused on saving resources such as paper and postage expenses. Indeed, the school district explains that other documents are only available online unless the parent requests them in hard copy. Why then spend the resources, paper and postal expenses on this particular notification from the Brady Campaign rather than just posting it online like the other documents?
Any (more) questions?
Well of course. California is as anti gun as the nazi party was in WW2. Just look at history.
Yeah, one more question: WTF?
F that.
To tell the truth, the letter at least in part accurately reflects California law. It can be a crime to keep firearms where children can access them–but there has to be an injury before liability attaches. On the other hand, the law doesn’t say anything about storing firearms separately from ammunition, If both are in a locked container, what difference does it make if they are in the same container? Are they afraid they will mate and make little .22s?
One can hope. I keep my guns and ammo together just in case.
If my .30-30 rifle and 9mm pistols got together and had little rimfire babies, I’d be the happiest gun owner on the planet.
The anonymous questioner has very good questions.
I put the odds of them being answered in a satisfactory manner to be akin to elephants flying and pigs learning to whistle. Or Empress Cankles suddenly becoming attractive enough to score a Playboy centerfold.
Except this one:* The other papers that were included in the same envelope with this letter were translated into Spanish and Chinese. Why was this letter not translated like those were?
The real question here should be ‘why they feel the need to translate any letters to spanish and chinese?’ I for one don’t want to have to press 1 for English. I know that my English is far from perfect and I may speak with funny accent, but I don’t expect anyone to talk or write to me in Czech.
Remember this is Santa Clara County CA. Our taxpayer-funded voter pamphlets are printed in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish. and Tagalog. No legal requirement, but elected officials pandering to ethnic communities to show support. Don’t be surprised if Ebonics or Pidgin is next.
When will the newsletter reflect that the NRA wishes to remind everyone that the RKBA is enumerated in the Bill of Rights?
California, California, California….
Why are you reading past the sentence containing the location? Nothing new to see here.
Do the locks on my doors make my house a locked container, if so than I’m good.
The law applies only if you have children in your house–whether yours, someone else’s, grandkids, etc. No kids, no need for a locked container (except in San Francisco, with LA considering an identical ordinance). On your person? No need for a locked container. Note that this letter was sent to parents of grade school kids. And the law does not say that there is a criminal liability simply of the guns are lying around (although CPS will have a fit), only if a discharge of a firearm by a minor results in injury.
I used to live in Sunnyvale, before I was able to GTF out of there. I called the Police dept once, and asked about getting a CCW permit. Some dude said I was welcome to come down and post the fees, but not to hold my breath, as the chief hadn’t issued a permit for many, many years.
When I came to Oregon, I submitted my application as soon as I could (6months residency) and had no trouble at all.
FVCK Kalifornia!
Like you I voted with my feet as well. Just as easy here in Washington just north of you. 🙂
Yeah Frank, thank god for legs and feet. Looks like it’s getting a bit worse in both our states though.
@Frank: However, the Liberals in Seattle are working hard to change that.
I moved from Oregon (Portland area) to Arizona a few years ago. Even though I do not need a permit in AZ, I got one about a year before I moved here. I can OC in most places. I am not afraid to print…because no one cares. And everytime I go out in public, I am reminded how many people carry in AZ.
Cost and funding? Stay tuned – just filed public records request.
What really annoys me is “keep students safe by keeping guns out of the hands of students.” If they’d added *unauthorized* students or comparable working, I’d be OK. But am annoyed enough to put up flyers at nearby student hangouts inviting them to free shooting event at our range. Written parental permission or accompanying adult needed for those under 18.
BTW, Sunnyvale also prohibits possession of magazines > 10 rounds (as LA recently passed).
My Shakespearean reply:
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Iago.
Iago who?
Iago f#ck yourself!
Damn, those Bradys must be zombies or something. They’re both totally rotting corpse dead and yet they’re still sucking the life out of California.
If the school had printed such a letter & replaced the wording with something from the NRA, they’d have a raft of lawyers & irate hoplophobic parents jumping in their cheerios post-haste.
@anaxis: Exactly right. My bet is that the Brady Bunch put up some money to print and distribute this. However, if the NRA proposed a similar letter it would never be accepted. So why in the Hell are the public school systems distributing this stuff with the Brady Group’s name on it ?
Because most government employees are Democrat Party loyalists. If the Democrat Party decided to endorse the NRA tomorrow, these folks would start teaching kids marksmanship the day after tomorrow.
I’m a government worker and definitely not a democrat. So what’s the issue…oh wait, I have been retaliated against for the past 2 years for being a whistle blower, lost $60,000 in legal fees, and separated from my wife by the agency (we both work for them). Damn, all this time I was a member of the wrong party! I could have been RUNNING the agency.
If the school did not have an agenda they would not have mentioned Brady. There’s not reason to comment on forearms in the first place but if they chose to do so there are simple ways to suggest people remain responsible. They could suggest going to the NRA website for kids and or safety sections. It would be far more informative and factual. Atrocious of school to pull this stunt. I suppose they might teach the American Constitution too? I’d like to see how they present it.
Moments like this make me all the more proud of my nephew. He’s 8 and for the last year or so his dad has gotten phone calls from their CA elementary school asking that his discourage his son from talking about going to the range with his dad and grandpa, about how much he likes shooting the .22, and from drawing designs.
I will give the system a modicum of credit, though, I would have expected a real overreaction, treating his fanciful drawings like he had brought a weapon to school. They’ve tried to redirect him, but they haven’t punished.
Probably because rent control is gone in Oakland, so because of all the tattooed faces showing up in Hayward and Fremont people had to start arming themselves again.
The Fremont Union High School District covers very tony neighborhoods in West San Jose, Cupertino, and nearby unincorporated areas, and has some of the best high schools in the State, thanks in part to the insane home values and the particular class of people who move into that District for those schools. I am sure this message will appeal to most of the residents there. I grew up in that district when it was mose sane. Moved to Texas several years ago and never looked back.
The NRA should ask the school to provide a reminder to parents that safe instruction of firearms handling will go a long way to stopping accidental deaths of children from mishandling of firearms.
If they refuse, then a lawsuit should ensue.
Um, how many commentators happen to be parents of school age children? I’m a parent of two teens living at home, one still in High School, in N. Texas.
On the day the Sandy Hook shooting occurred, I had both kids in High School. I got my first “Emergency” robo call at about 3:00 that day, advising me that their high school, thousands of miles away, would be on “lock down” until further notice. The fact that the robo call started off with “Emergency” nearly sank me to the floor, I thought a copy-cat shooting had already happened, instead of just taking precautions. There are teachers who will be keeping their doors locked, this year, as they have, ever since.
My 17 year old son loves his guns that have been gifted to him, by us. He’s been taught that if he wishes to continue his love for guns, he needs to stay out of trouble. An assault charge could stop his favorite hobby, and his dream job, working part time in a gun shop.
Laws in Texas aren’t like California, as we all know. At seventeen, son is forbidden to have a loaded gun in his possession, without parental supervision. So, his guns are unloaded. They are stored in his room.
There’s the State Law, (of course, there’s no mandatory “room check” by the police, so as long as there’s no accidental discharge, or shooting, no one but his family KNOWS the guns are unloaded), and then there’s “Mom’s Law” (the “e” in EJQ stands for Elizabeth), ammo is safely locked up. Friends come over and everything is locked up. If we didn’t tell someone we were gun owners, a guest wouldn’t know.
The Ed Establishment in CA has a checkered history of ignoring any state laws about the expending of school resources on partisan issues, or divisive public policy conflicts. Infrequently, someone actually is held to account, and it is so rare it usually prompts a mention only because it is so unusual.
I would look for the link between the CTA and the Brady people, and how this was presented to the poobahs at the school and/or district.
They need to rename the Dept. of Education to the Dept. of Propaganda. Seems like they do anything BUT teach now a days.
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