Students get reality check on guns

LYNN – They may be young, but Callahan Elementary School Principal Ed Turmenne says it is never too early to teach his students about the importance of gun safety, especially in a city like Lynn where the likelihood of stumbling upon a discarded weapon is increased with every violent crime.With the holiday season in full swing, Turmenne gathered his student body in the school’s auditorium Tuesday for a special and timely presentation by local resident and gun safety advocate Ann Marie Crowell.Tragedy struck Crowell and her Saugus family Christmas Eve 1997 when her 12-year-old son Brian was accidentally shot in the neck and killed while talking on the phone with his sister at a friend’s house.The accidental shooting occurred when his friend decided to show Brian his mother’s gun, believing it was empty of bullets, pulling the trigger three times and fatally wounding his friend.After learning that the gun, legally purchased by the boy’s mother to protect herself from an abusive ex-husband, was hidden under a mattress but not locked, Crowell embarked on a crusade to raise awareness of gun safety among children in her son’s honor.”That Christmas morning instead of opening Christmas gifts we were at a funeral home picking out my son’s casket,” Crowell told the room of eerily silent students. “We got through it with family and friends, but it was heart wrenching.”The normally antsy and vocal group of elementary school students sat silent through a 30-minute video telling of Crowell’s well-publicized saga, and asked the mother a series of questions once the presentation was through.Using headlines and newspaper clippings from The Daily Item to show the students examples of local situations where children became involved with guns, Turmenne attempted to show the students that, while they should be much too young to worry about gun violence, the reality of life in Lynn today dictates that everyone should know never to touch a gun.”Guns are like magnets. If a person sees a gun on the ground, the natural reaction is to pick it up, maybe even to try and pull the trigger,” he said. “So it is important to know that touching the gun is dangerous. Many of (the students) here have never seen a gun, but they might see one and it is important to know what to do to be safe.”Crowell and Turmenne offered gun safety tips to the students, telling them that if they ever find a gun or see a person with a gun not to touch it or approach them, but to tell a parent or teacher, or call 911.Crowell also urged students to stay away from guns if their parents own them and to make sure to never play with a friend’s gun. Finally, students were encouraged to ask their parents to purchase gunlocks if there are guns in the house and to talk with parents about gun safety.”I have seen all kinds of educational programs about safety issues over my years as a principal at the Harrington and now the Callahan, but none are more important than this,” said Turmenne. “So I feel fortunate to have Mrs. Crowell here to deliver the message about gun safety.”