Wednesday, April 26, 2000Kids cautioned on gun safety
By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati EnquirerBELLEVUE — Six-year-old Preslee Kitts knows there's a gun in her home, but after listening to Bellevue Police Officer Jimmie Poynter discuss gun safety, she's learned that firearms are not toys.
“You don't touch a gun, because it'll shoot people, and you'll get hurt really bad,” Preslee said.
Officer Poynter addressed Preslee and her first-grade classmates at Grandview Elementary School on Tuesday as part of the National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle gun-safety program. Workbooks for the local program were provided by the Northern Kentucky Crime Coali tion.
By Thursday, Officer Poynter will have instructed about 200 pupils at Grandview and St. Michael's elementary schools on what to do if they encounter a gun at a friend's home.
Eddie Eagle's standard advice? “Stop! Don't touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult.”
“Kids are going to be curious,” said Officer Poynter, 35, who keeps a locked gun cabinet at his home. “They need to be told to stay away from guns.”
Although several children gasped when Officer Poynter displayed a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, most had already spotted guns in their homes or at a relative's.
“I saw a gun at my paw-paw's house,” said Sarah Oli via Pope, 7. “It's very dangerous. You don't touch it.”
“I learned you go home and tell an adult if you see a gun at your friend's house,” said 7-year-old Sam Young.
Clifford Keene, 7, has a BB gun. However, he said his father keeps other guns locked up.
“Policemen used to come in here and teach bicycle safety,” said veteran first-grade teacher Jennifer Brock. “I guess times have changed.”
As a parent, Ms. Brock said that she is grateful for programs such as Eddie Eagle, “because you don't know what other parents have lying around.”
Officer Poynter, a father of five and a five-year police officer, said has been to many homes on police calls where he's seen guns in a gun rack with ammunition nearby. In one home with young children, he spotted a loaded assault rifle propped up against a doorway.
“It's easier to change things with kids than adults,” Officer Poynter said. “I couldn't get 30 adults to a class about locking up their guns. But if you can give a little information to kids, it'll help.”
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