When Anti-Gunners Say "Gun Safety," They Don't Mean It

In what can only be described as a blatant display of hypocrisy, two gun ban groups have started a petition to deny a federal grant for Project Childsafe, a gun safety program operated by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

This year, for the first time since Barack Obama’s 2008 election, the NSSF has won a U.S. Department of Justice grant, in the amount of $2.4 million dollars for Project Childsafe.  According to NSSF’s website, this program is “committed to promoting firearms safety among firearms owners through the distribution of safety education messages and free firearm safety kits.”

As gun owners, we are all dedicated to safe firearm usage, and NRA is the leading provider of firearms safety training in the world. With tens of thousands of trainers and instructors, NRA provides the curriculum and guidelines that allow millions of Americans to learn how to use and store firearms safely.

NSSF is also dedicated to firearm safety.  In cooperation with their industry partners, including manufacturers, distributors and dealers, the group promotes numerous programs and materials on safe gun ownership.  Project Childsafe is just one of the programs that NSSF sponsors, and it is operated in partnership with law enforcement departments throughout the United States.

Apparently, real dedication to firearm safety is opposed by two anti-gun groups. The Newtown Action Alliance and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence have begun a petition campaign to have the Justice Department rescind the grant.  It seems that all the talk of “firearm safety” and “responsible gun ownership” from these anti-gun groups is nothing but a smokescreen.

But this is not surprising.  NRA and NSSF spend millions each year to teach and promote firearm safety -- programs that actually save lives.  For NRA and NSSF, safety isn’t just a political ruse, it’s a top priority. In contrast, groups like those challenging the Project Childsafe grant do nothing to promote firearms safety. They hide behind the term “gun safety” to fool people about their real intentions: to reduce or eliminate legal gun ownership.

With the antagonism that the Obama administration has shown to legal gun owners and any organization that defends the Second Amendment, it remains to be seen if the grant will be delivered or if anti-gun politics will win the day.

If these two radical groups are successful, it will only prove that any talk of gun safety by Obama, his Justice Department or anti-gun groups is just that, empty talk.