Essay:Firearms safety

A lot of ink has been spilled about the need for firearms safety, particularly that children won't accidentally get hurt. We hear a lot about keeping guns out of their reach, or storing them separately from ammunition, and so on. What we don't hear is, "Always assume a gun is loaded" or variations on that theme such as, "Never take anyone else's word about whether a gun is loaded."

So if someone says, you want to hold my gun? You would then say no, unless you already knew how to be sure that the safety was on (trigger can't be pulled) or if you knew precisely how to "clear" the weapon (i.e., remove the round from the chamber). Is this what kids would learn in the Eddie Eagle classes given by the NRA?