"We owe the NRA a tremendous thanks. The students will now be smarter and safer due to your generosity." --A Louisiana school principal
Today, only six years after he was "hatched," Eddie Eagle leads the most successful child gun safety program in America, and has the potential to touch more families -- and perhaps do more good for more people -- than any other program in NRA history.
Ask the educators who teach the program, the law officers who distribute it, or the parents who read about it. No matter who you talk to, Eddie Eagle wins almost universal praise. NRA staff receives scores of letters and phone calls lauding the program. And the National Safety Council is so impressed that last October, it awarded Eddie's creator, NRA President Marion P. Hammer, with one of its highest honors: the first place national citation for outstanding community service.
A grandmother, hunter, competitive shooter and NRA-certified instructor, Hammer developed the concept for Eddie Eagle in 1987. "Whether a family owns firearms or not, they're in about half of all households," Hammer explained. So all children should know what to do if they find one. Just as Smokey the Bear taught us not to play with matches, Eddie Eagle teaches kids real guns are not toys." By 1988, Hammer had ushered the program into action, with first-generation materials distributed through schools, law enforcement agencies and affiliated organizations.
Today's program materials -- including classroom activity books, posters, stickers, parents' and teachers' guides, a teachers' video, even an animated video for kids starring teen-idol Jason Priestley -- have reached more than 7 million pre-school through sixth-grade children in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. The costumed Eddie Eagle character thrills youngsters wherever he goes. And parents, teachers and administrators like him as much as their kids do.
The American Legion's National Committee on Education called Eddie Eagle "outstanding," noting the program "has the total support of the Committee." Even the skeptical Tallahassee Democrat -- which typically opposes NRA in its editorials -- offered its congratulations and praise, saying "Hammer and the NRA deserve credit for this program." Marion Hammer explained why Eddie Eagle gets such widespread acclaim: "Unlike other so-called 'gun safety' programs for kids, this one has no agenda other than accident prevention. Eddie Eagle doesn't offer, or ask for, any value judgment concerning firearms; they're simply treated as a fact of life, like electrical outlets or swimming pools. Even the most anti-gun parents would agree that education is the key to safety, and that Eddie's is a vital, lifesaving message. That's all that matters -- you can't argue with success."
And what a success the program has been. Thanks to NRA safety training, fewer children die in gun accidents today than did 90 years ago, and America's accidental firearm fatality rates have fallen steadily for decades. But now, with the help of Eddie Eagle, that safety record is improving faster than ever before. From 1975 to 1993, accidental firearm fatalities among children age 14 and under dropped by 63%. In just one year, from 1991 to 1992 -- while Eddie Eagle reached out to almost a million more youngsters -- that rate fell 13%.
After his young son found an unattended but loaded air pistol in a vacant lot, an Alexandria, Virginia, man wrote to NRA and summed up the feelings many of Eddie Eagle 's new friends have expressed: "Although I do not own firearms and am not a member of your organization, I commend you for your efforts with this important program. Because of Eddie Eagle, my son knew what to do when he found that gun. For that, I cannot thank you enough..."
At the age of just six, Eddie's already made it into the Congressional Record. After the National Safety Council recognized Eddie Eagle and Marion Hammer, so did the Honorable Karen L. Thurman, a U.S. Congresswoman from Florida, who said, "The NRA is the recognized leader in firearms education, marksmanship and safety training in the world and should be congratulated for developing and administering this program. But, I would be remiss if I did not highlight the role that Marion Hammer has had... Marion believed there was a strong need to enforce to children the basic message that firearms are not toys. It was the belief that many, if not most firearms accidents involving children could be prevented by making just that basic point."
Rep. Thurman continued, "Mr. Speaker, at a time when others merely stand around and wring their hands and bemoan the tragedy of preventable childhood accidents involving firearms, the NRA rolled up its sleeves and went to work to try to find a solution. I believe the Eddie Eagle Program is reaching children with a message that can save lives."
Marion Hammer wishes the national media would give Eddie Eagle the coverage and credit he deserves. "The National Safety Council, educators, parents and police have all praised this program as an effective way to prevent child firearms accidents," she said. "Instead of profiteering off of hype and hysteria about children and guns, why can't the national media join NRA in helping to educate and protect our children?"
Late last year, the Eddie Eagle Program was expanded to meet the needs of America's Spanish-speaking population. Becky Schergens, director of NRA's Safety & Education division, which runs the program, explains that this was the next logical step: "The 1990 U.S. Census identified 17.3 million people in this country who speak Spanish in the home. Spanish also leads as the top-ranked foreign language spoken at home in 39 of the 50 states, making it by far the largest language group in the country after English." So, with a $5,000 grant from The NRA Foundation, program materials were translated and Eddie Aguila was hatched. By any name, he fills a critical need. "Currently," Schergens said, "the Spanish- speaking community has virtually no access to firearms safety education in their native language. This will go a long way toward correcting that problem."
"Our police officers have taught the program to more than 10,000 young people in the area. To say it has been a tremendous success would be an understatement. We found the materials very relevant and very well designed. I constantly receive positive feedback from my police officers, students, teachers, staff members and the school principals regarding the program." --A Georgia police chief
Eddie Eagle may be a big hit now, but thanks to a recent generous contribution to the program, this may just be the beginning. The donor, who was "impressed by the outstanding efforts of Marion Hammer to expand and continue this important program" -- and who wishes to remain anonymous -- contributed $100,000 to the Eddie Eagle Program through The NRA Foundation. "Private individuals and companies are realizing the importance of this program and have begun working with us to ensure we can meet the demand for materials in the future," Hammer said. "Their support is critical if we're to attain our goal of educating every youngster in America." She hopes and plans to make Eddie Eagle as much a household word as McGruff the Crime Dog. "Regardless of where you stand philosophically on the issue of firearms," Hammer said, "there's one thing we all value and can work together to preserve, and that' s the safety of our children. Eddie Eagle is a gun safety program we can all live with."
Eddie Eagle program materials are provided for a nominal fee to schools, law enforcement agencies and civic groups that request them. For more information on the Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program, or to get a free brochure, call toll-free, (800) 231-0752 today.
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