Common Sense Rejected

By Shortshanks no less:

• Mayor Daley is seething over a West Side legislator’s suggestion that children be educated about gun safety and gun use.
  
  State Rep. Annazette Collins (D-Chicago) said she believes that education is the key to gun safety, and said a hands-on approach is the key to taking away the mystery and allure of guns.
  
  “Downstate they teach you that guns are meant for hunting, for protection,” she said. “Here in the urban cities, all they see are guns on TV and they gun down people.”
  
  Opponents filled a town hall meeting Monday night in Garfield Park, and Mayor Daley is adding his voice to the outrage.
  
  “It’s the silliest position I’ve ever heard taken,” Daley said.

No, the silliest position is Illinois and Wisconsin being the last of the 50 states to legalize some form of concealed carry that has been proven time and time again to reduce violent crime.

But actually educating people, young people, as to basic safety principles regarding something that, despite all Shortshank's attempts to ban it, still manages to pop up with astonishing frequency. Notice how Daley twists the issue to his own anti-gun views:

• Daley said putting guns in the hands of more children is the last thing the city of Chicago needs.
  
  [...] Daley said there is already too much gun violence on Chicago’s West Side, and said he believed Collins’ proposal would only fuel it.
  
  “If (she thinks) more guns on the West Side is going to help those people, she is greatly mistaken,” Daley said.

Collins, of course, didn't say she wanted to put guns in anyone's hands or even more guns in a City that already bans them. She isn't advocating teaching these kids marksmanship, arming them, and sending them out to kill. But being aware of when a gun is loaded (always), what it's capable of (holes in paper, walls, people), and what they should do when they see one (tell the police) isn't a bad idea.