Gun Safety In Paradise

This very special project began back in September of 2019 at a Gun Rights Policy Conference in Phoenix, AZ. I had the pleasure of meeting the delegation from the Hawaii Firearms Coalition. They were great to meet and talk to about all the happenings in that embattled state. As beautiful as their state is they really aren’t very friendly to gun owners and gun laws are very strict. This is dangerous for the kids of Hawaii, because when the parents firearms are highly regulated they don’t have conversations with their children about guns. This makes their children very vulnerable to an accident. Needless to say we hit it off. A year or so went by and we started talking seriously about the possibility of the Kids S.A.F.E. Foundation traveling to the islands to teach the children of Hawaii. It has taken 8 months of planning, networking, and finally we are headed there next week!! This is a really exciting opportunity for us and we are looking forward meeting everyone.

The plan is that we will be flying to Oahu first for a few days of networking and classes. Then we will be “island” hopping to Maui for more networking and a few more classes. It is our hope that this will lay the foundation to start our first chapter in the state. To be honest I’m terrified. Seven years of trial and error will culminate in events in paradise. Will our message resonate with them? Will they see the value in what we are trying to do for their children? Will there be things lost in translation? These thoughts swirl through my mind as our departure date gets closer. While most travel to Hawaii for pleasure, we are going for business. It has been quite the process to plan this endeavor. What I typically do here on the mainland, takes quite a bit of coordination to make happen. I’m so thankful to have the team of volunteers that I have there, making this all possible. There has definitely been a buzz about what we are planning to do. Some bad, but mostly good. There are some that are fearful of gun safety and they have tried to sabotage our classes. They have gone to our events and registered 40 people so those that are interested in having their kids joining us are prevented from signing up. It has been a challenge. People fear what they don’t know or understand and tried to ruin it for others. The show will go on as planned though, improvise, adapt, and overcome!

The next weekend we headed further south to Medford. We have a great, dedicated, group of volunteers that give their time to make these events all possible. It means spending and entire month of weekends, on the road, living out of suitcases. Their sacrifices help us fundraise and help spread our important message of safety to the many different communities that we are fortunate to serve. We were able to reach a lot of families, shoot some BB guns, and also hold a Firearm Safety 1 Class. All in all it was a great weekend. Only one more to go!!

The first week of March we headed to Anderson CA. It is by far the most complicated show of the season due to the logistics. After 3 straight weeks in a row, on the road. We are all ready for a break. The parents are always thankful for the Education!! The one thing about California is that they have the highest rates of restriction in the country. Yet no access to Education for the kids. This is troubling for us. There is a huge population of “Illegal” guns in CA. The laws continue to change and what was once legal is now illegal with the stroke of a pen. This is bad for the residents and especially bad for the kids. The parents don’t talk to their kids about their guns because of fear that they potentially could get in trouble. This makes the kids very vulnerable. They are grateful for the Education we are able to provide for the weekend. We pack up with a sense of accomplishment without knowing what is about to hit our country and state.

We are planning our first class in Oahu at Smith’s Taekwondo. We will be doing our Kids Firearm Safety 1 Class there. The dojo is a great venue and I’ve been following their social media for a while now. The owners are solid patriots and mirror our beliefs in protecting the children. I really look forward to working with them. The next morning we are scheduled to be at the 808 Gun Range. We will be doing back to back Kids Firearm Safety 2 classes on the range and then we are headed to the classroom for a Safety 1 class. The next day we island hop to Maui for a Kids Firearm Safety 1 Class in the evening. The following day we will be on the range for 2 classes. The range is located at the Circle L Ranch, special thanks to the Hawaii Youth Livestock Association for hosting and helping us set this all up. It is all coming together as planned.

Leading up to this trip. There has been a tremendous amount of exposure and positive PR for our mission. Last week our good friend John Petrolino ran an article in Ammoland. He did a great job painting the picture and setting the stage for our travels. After we spoke on the phone and speaking with our contacts with the Hawaii Firearms Coalition and the Hawaii Youth Livestock Association. He was able to put together an important piece explaining the value we intend on bringing to the Islands and their families. This will definitely be our biggest challenge to date. It’s scary and exhilarating all in the same breath. I know in the end it will work out the way it is planned because it’s what we do. This will help develop the framework to start our very first chapter outside of Oregon. We are truly blessed to have people in our corner that are helping us move the goal forward. 22k kids into 1 million and beyond, maybe someday up to 10 million kids. It is something that drives me to do this amazing work that I love so dearly. It all started with an idea and here we are getting ready to board a flight for paradise. I’m blessed to be in this position.

There was a lot of planning that went into making this all possible. I want to thank my BOD’s for their support over the years. The Hawaii Firearms Coalition and Hawaii Youth Livestock Association have been the driving force behind this even becoming a reality. Thank you!! We look forward to working with Smith’s Taekwondo and the 808 Gun Range. They both have been really supportive of our organization. Once we get to Maui. The Circle L Ranch will be our home base thanks to the Hawaii Youth Livestock Association with help from the Wai Ulu Feed Supply for making everything possible. I will do my best to keep everyone up to date via our social media on our progress. I will also be developing new content for our Kids S.A.F.E. Foundation Hawaii page. Please go over there and give us a follow. Next week will be our biggest challenge to date. It will all work out the way it is designed. I believe and there is a lot of people that as well. Until next time. Be Safe!!