Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
12 <br />Mr. Kirkland suggested that the Committee follow-up on the earlier suggestion to recommend <br />educational efforts around firearms safety. It would be wonderful to have DSS and/or the Health <br />Department make efforts at educating the communityon firearms safety, he said. We might also <br />want to encourage the County and NC Wildlife to pursue ongoing firearms safety classes <br />together. If we educated people then maybe there would be a lot fewer accidents, he said. Ms. <br />Barksdale said that she would like to see educational efforts around firearms safety available for <br />people who have home day care for children. I’m not sure they know to avoid having unsecured <br />guns on their premises, she said. She also suggested educational efforts around gun storage in <br />homes with children. <br />Chief Deputy Sykes said that when people apply for a license to operate a home day care center <br />they are informed about the existing rules regarding gun storage. But additional education might <br />be needed, said Ms. Barksdale. One child dies by gunfire every day in North Carolina. She told <br />about a friend of hers who is quadriplegic living in Prospect Hill. He is the father of three year <br />olds. He has a fingerprint-locked safe for his guns, and that makes total sense to me, she said. He <br />has a fully handicapped-equipped home that he needs to protect and it needs to be only him who <br />can go into that gun safe. People need the education to raise their awareness and to know that <br />this option is available. <br />Mr. Kirkland said that storage technology exists that provides for both safety and quick access; <br />people who might be interested should know about this. The Boy Scouts and some of the schools <br />already do firearms safety training, he said. Migrating or merging all these efforts and concerns <br />might be a good thing, he said. But we’re not talking about requiring that guns be locked up. <br />This should be an educational effort through a voluntary grassroots effort, through a school <br />program or the Scouts, for example. Mr. Hunnell noted that we already have mandatory hunter <br />safety programs. <br />Dr. Arvik said that the educational efforts should be focused on the parents and the grandparents, <br />because it is they who allow access by the kids to the guns. We need to identify organizations <br />that would connect us with the adults: a church organization, the PTA, for example. If you tell a <br />6th grader not to go near a gun, then he’ll go toward it. He’ll hunt the house to find it. <br />Commissioner McKee said that a few years ago the Board of Commissioners dealt with deer dog <br />hunting, which is allowed in Orange County north of US-70 only. The issue was that the dogs <br />were invading other people’s properties and running up and down the roads. We put out <br />pamphlets and brochures in stores, churches, and civic organizations explaining the hunters’ <br />rights and the property owners’ rights. I can’t say for sure how much of a benefit it was, but the <br />rhetoric toned down for some reason after we put out the information. I think the idea of <br />education is critical; it might even help us in explaining any new ordinance we might pass and <br />contribute to its acceptance. I just asked Mr. Roberts if anyone within the County would be in the