Texas Gun Lobbyist: No Need To Be Nosy About Guns On Kids’ Play Dates

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A Texas gun lobbyist affiliated with the National Rifle Association told an Austin newspaper for an article published on Friday that parents shouldn’t worry about gun storage when dropping their children off for a play date.

“I wouldn’t ask it,” lobbyist Alice Tripp told the Austin American-Statesman. “I would not think of it. It’s like asking, ‘How do you handle your bug spray or a sharp, pointy knife?’ I teach my children and grandchildren gun safety. That’s the best insulation.”

Tripp is the legislative director for the Texas State Rifle Association, the Texas affiliate of the National Rifle Association. She had been asked whether it was appropriate to check the gun storage practices of other parents before letting your child go on play dates.

Tripp told the paper it was more important to question supervision than gun protocols.

“Are children left alone?” she said. “That would bother me most of all.”

A study last year from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that about 7,500 children in the U.S. are admitted to hospitals each year with gunshot wounds.

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