There are many logic tasks which American kids face in their everyday lives, of which usage of higher math and Algebra is statistically small.
There are many books which American kids face in their everyday lives, of which a necessary of extended knowledge of grammar is statistically small (See Spot. See Spot run.)
Our school system is set up to teach kids what they SHOULD know, not merely what they NEED. Hell, if our scholastics were aimed at teaching only the basics, I coulda dropped out in the 5th grade and spent the rest of my life making shoes for Nike.
It is in our society’s best interest to have an intelligent, well-educated populace. While we can’t force people to learn, we CAN present the material to them. We teach our children the appropriate way to act around potentially dangerous materials and situations (driving, STD’s, excercise, technology, etc.)… why not guns? Only a fool would suggest that misuse of a gun is dangerous… the solution? Minimize the instances of misuse, by educating the populace.
Yes, ITR, the actual numbers on gun accidents are small, but as you say, the media etc. has a tendency to push this as a major problem. Us gun owners have developed a few sensitive spots over the years and one of them is the “but think of the children” argument often used as a pretext for gun ownership limitations.
We wouldn’t need an entire course to get a decent gun safety message across. My personal idea is to use a week out of a social studies curriculum and devote it to gun safety. Parental notification would be involved, and I would actually prefer that parents attend as well - I’d actually love to get a chance to put the message to them as well. There would be no advocacy of gun ownership. Some basic points to cover:
The Three Laws of Gun Safety, what to do if you find a gun, safe storage, some visuals of the actual effects of a gunshot (properly done, this really impresses people - 50 lb blocks of ice and 5 gallon buckets of water work well).
A slight aside: my 12 year old is now learning from me how to handle a firearm. Before this, his basic understanding of the Three Laws was: 1) Don’t touch the gun! 2) Don’t touch the gun! 3) Don’t touch the gun!
The point has been made by another that perhaps a general safety course would’t be a bad idea, and I tend to concur with this. Again, the numbers on gun accidents may be low, and that is my personal focus, but what if such a course (or a section of a couse) also addressed electrical safety, accidental poisoning, accidental drownings, etc?
I can understand that people may not want their children to be exposed to such education, on the grounds that “I don’t own a gun, and never will”. But kids play at other people’s houses, and you may not always be able to predict what they may find there. This leads into an observation about your last point - it may be impossible to quantify if the “ignorant” kids have any higher risk of accident than the educated ones. I am not aware of any statistics and probably would be suspiscious of any that did exist. I’d personally still rather that all kids have some level of understanding and education from a competent instructor than have a significant number whose only idea of what to do with a gun comes from TV.
With respect to the OP in general, and to your views in particular, perhaps my approach will only affect a small portion of the overall “gun problem”. However, I see it as a subset that can be tckled, and can be done with a minimal investment of time and money. Perhaps it’s worth a try.