SPRINGFIELD, IL: Public school revisionism of 2nd Amendment

Illinois Gun Owners Rights scored a public relations coup with the revelation of what’s being taught at Grant Middle School in Springfield, IL.

This hits home to me because I lived not too far from this school during the summers while I was in college.

What they are teaching?

The Second Amendment: “This amendment states that people have the right to certain weapons, providing that they register them and they have not been in prison.”

The story has gone national, much to the embarrassment of the local school.

EAG News has the full story:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A workbook handed out to seventh grade students in Springfield, Ill., states that all Americans must register their firearms in order to have a Second Amendment right.

2nd amendment assignmentProvided to the Illinois Gun Owners Rights Facebook page by a local parent, the required reading makes several blatantly false statements regarding the right to gun ownership.

“This amendment states that people have the right to certain weapons, providing that they register them and they have not been in prison,” the workbook states.

Along with an open ended statement regarding the right to “certain weapons,” the assignment also excludes mention that Americans have the right to “keep” and bear arms.

The parent, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the assignment to Storyleak and detailed their child’s initial reaction.

“My son was given a workbook at school that is a compilation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. When they covered the 2nd Amendment, he saw that they were stating that only ‘certain guns’ could be owned and that they had to be ‘registered,’ which he knew was false,” the parent said. “He bought this to my attention as he felt it was wrong to teach these things that aren’t true. I’m extremely proud of my son for his actions.”

“Me and my children are active gun enthusiasts and supporters of the 2nd amendment. I have discussed the 2nd amendment with them several times and explained what it meant and its importance to our country.”

While the parent confronted several school administrators, the workbook is likely to stay in circulation for young students across the state.

“I even told the school officials I talked to that you can’t reword the Constitution to what you think it should be and you should only teach what it is,” the parent said. “We live in a society where children are being taught to fear firearms instead of embracing them and our shooting sports. Heck 50-60 years ago you had police officers coming into schools teaching firearm safety and now we have schools teaching false information and fear. It’s a sad time.”