Eddie Eagle is no alternative to gun control

We will leave most of the responses to the National Rifle Association’s callous, cynical statement about the Newtown tragedy to groups like AFJ members the Violence Policy Center, and States United to Stop Gun Violence.

But we couldn’t help but note that the NRA once again touted its “Eddie Eagle” program as supposedly promoting gun safety for children.

AFJ examined the Eddie Eagle program more than a decade ago, as part of Deadly Business, our First Monday documentary about how the gun industry markets its product.  In this excerpt from Deadly Business, Prof. Marjorie Hardy discusses the strong evidence that the program is a failure.  She says this of the NRA:

 I think they don’t care if it works.  I think this is their way of redirecting attention from gun laws and legislatures to saying: Look, we have this way of keeping kids safe so we don’t need all these laws on the books.  

When we checked the NRA website today we found all sorts of material touting the Eddie Eagle program – but no studies indicating that it actually works.

The full videos of DeadlyBusiness and our other First Monday documentary on gun control, America Up in Arms, are available here.

And on our Bolder Advocacy Blog: A look at the nonprofits leading the fight against the gun lobby.