Third grade students at McKinley Elementary School put down their common core to pick up some common sense gun safety in the classroom this week. Toledo Police Officers Joe Okos and Duane Isabell stepped into the classroom to teach students firearm safety and what to do if they encounter a gun.

“You see the gun you stop, don’t touch, run away and we tell an adult,” Officer Okos told the children.

The Toledo Police officers are utilizing the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® program developed by the National Rifle Association. The gun accident prevention program program is designed to help parents, law enforcement, community groups and educators navigate a topic paramount to our children’s safety: what to do if kids come across a gun.

STOP!        Don’t Touch        Run Away        Tell a Grown Up 

“Since 1988, the Eddie Eagle GunSafe^® Program has reached more than 28 million children in all 50 states with the help of more than 26,000 schools, teachers and law enforcement officers. It’s because of partners like the Toledo Police Department, who pass along Eddie’s life-saving message, that unintentional firearm fatalities among children in the program’s targeted age group have declined approximately 65% in the last twenty years,” NRA’s Media Relations Director Jeremy Greene told Bearing Arms.

McKinley teachers see their students will benefit from the program.

“There’s a lot of guns in our city. A lot of accidental shootings. The kids are very interested in guns with the video games they are playing at home. So it’s a very beneficial program,” said McKinley teacher Bernice Palus.

“(Did the) gun shoot somebody? Why isn’t it doing that? Because nobody touched it? Because nobody touched it! Outstanding and that’s what we are going to teach you today,” Officer Okos taught the students.

Ruben Daniels, 8, said he liked the presentation, especially the Eddie Eagle video the officers played.

NRA’s Eddie Eagle program is designed for children from preK-4th grade, but if you’re wondering when to start teaching your children gun safety, the Toledo

“You can never be too early with safety,” Officer Okos said.

Now that’s GunSense I can get behind.