Sandwich, Illinois - 2011 Y.E.S. alumnus Theodore Mikrut participated in the Boy Scouts Three Fires Council Camporall last weekend at the Sandwich Fairgrounds in Illinois. The three-day event was enticing enough to draw almost 4,000 people who gathered despite the high winds and brisk October temperatures.

Before being allowed onto the range that weekend, every Cub Scout at Camporall was taught about the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program by Mikrut to ensure any scout interested in shooting was introduced to proper safety information.

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NRA members asked for it, and here it is - the 2012 $5 Silver Cougar, the latest piece in a series of wildlife coins from Universal Coin & Bullion, the Official Bullion and Rare Coin Dealer of the NRA. You may remember them as sponsors of the National Pistol Championships at Camp Perry, the NRA Bianchi Cup, and Eddie Eagle, and our friend Paul Stein, the Vice President of Marketing, filled us in on the exciting news about their newest wildlife coin:

The Cougar, the latest issue in a popular series of legal tender, silver bullion coins depicting North American wildlife, is now available.

Struck by the Royal Canadian Mint, each of the coins is made of one-ounce of 99.99 percent pure silver. The Cougar is the third in a planned series of six commemorative coins celebrating North American wildlife.

"As the Official Bullion and Rare Coin Dealer of the NRA, we are excited that the announcement of the 2012-dated Royal Canadian Mint silver Cougar created a buzz at the World’s Fair of Money in Chicago this past summer. The first two coins in the series, the Timber Wolf and the Grizzly Bear, sold quickly, and the same is expected to happen with these stunning Cougar coins," said Michael Fuljenz, President of Universal Coin & Bullion.

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Albuquerque, New Mexico - Eddie Eagle has been traveling across the country for more than twenty years now. With videos, coloring books and stickers, it helps ingrain his life saving message of: “If you see a gun: STOP! Don’t Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult." But the biggest asset in getting across these four simple steps is the Eddie Eagle mascot costume.

"The kids light up with you come in with the costume," said National Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program Manager Eric Lipp. "It's by far our most popular and effective tool."

So popular that NRA Law Enforcement decided to give one away at the 2011 National Police Shooting Championships in Albuquerque.

Throughout the week, hundreds of Law Enforcement Officers threw their names in the proverbial hat in hopes that the costume would end up in their department. And the lucky winner? Border Patrol Agent Kevin Worrell.

"We're pretty active with the Laredo (Texas) community," said Worrell. "This costume will make our work a whole lot easier. I can think of a half dozen places right off the bat where I can put it to use."

If you'd like to learn more about the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program, visit their website at www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/.

Eric Lipp, National Manager of the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program, sent us another Eddie Eagle update from a Night Out in Georgia:

Chief Gary Broden of the Avondale Estates Police Department in Avondale Estates, Georgia, decided to pull out all the stop for their 2011 National Night Out event at the Dewey Brown Memorial Plaza this August. Chief Broden jumped on the phone, made a few calls and borrowed an Eddie Eagle Mascot Costume from NRA's Law Enforcement Division.

Along with tons of food, the event was filled with a wide variety of safety vendors. There was the Police Department's Bomb Disposal and K-9 units, a child identification program known as Georgia Chip, and of course the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program. According to the Chief, it was a big hit!

We were more than happy to lend Chief Broden and the Avondale Estates Police Department a mascot costume for this worthwhile event. Here's looking forward to Georgia's National Night Out in 2012!

From the Montrose Daily Press comes an article about their town receiving an Eddie Eagle costume courtesy of their local Friends of NRA.

Grant brings Eddie Eagle to Montrose

Guns plus kids, minus adult supervision, is a dangerous combination.

But the Montrose Police Department and Black Canyon Friends of the National Rifle Association are working to educate kids about gun safety, with an eye toward preventing tragedy. The police department, with a grant, obtained an Eddie Eagle costume so it can present life-saving information in a kid-friendly way.

Eddie Eagle is the gun-safety mascot of an NRA-developed program that teaches kids how to react if they see a gun: Stop. Don’t touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult.

“I think that in light of some of he things that happened in and around this county and neighboring counties, it’s another good learning example for kids and adults,” Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn said of the Eddie Eagle program.

Read the article and see a picture of Eddie Eagle posing with Friends of NRA and a couple police officers here. 

Eric Lipp, National Manager of the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program, received the following from Debbie Beaudry of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Traffic Bureau/Community Services Section on Eddie Eagle's visit to Vegas:

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Breanna Lincoski, a High School Junior in California, Pennsylvania and a 2010 Youth Education Summit Ambassador, has been hard at work bringing the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program to local elementary schools:

California, Pennsylvania - I just thought I would send you a few pictures from my last Eddie Eagle Presentation at a California Area Elementary School. There were two sessions with grades k-1 and 2-3. We talked about all types of summer safety before starting the Eddie Eagle Presentation. Everyone had a blast and Eddie was mobbed by the children - they really loved him. The presentation was preformed in front of about 400 students with the help of some fourth graders.

My next program will be June 11, 2011 for the Roscoe’s Youth Day and roughly 50 of their students.

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From The Vindicator in Youngstown, Ohio:

Safety emphasized in gun program

People discard all sorts of stuff, including guns. Litter is unsightly, but guns are potentially lethal.

The Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program emphasizes safety in how to react if a student should come across a gun on the playground, in school, on the school bus, at a park or anywhere.

Students at Roosevelt Elementary School learned how to be “gun safe” from Sgt. Chris Moffitt of the city police force Wednesday.

Moffitt said Roosevelt second- through fourth-graders went through the 30-minute program as did kindergartners through fourth-graders at St. Patrick School.

Moffitt likened the gun safety instructions to what to do in a fire — stop, drop and roll. The gun safety guidelines are stop, don’t touch, leave the area and tell an adult.

Moffitt explained in more detail what each step means.

Stop — what you’re doing.
Don’t touch — the gun might be loaded and go off.
Leave the area — get away from the gun.
Tell an adult — find a trusted adult immediately and tell them about the gun.

The Eddie Eagle video featuring eagle-eye Eddie eagle that the students watched also brought out the point that children might encounter a gun at a grandparents’ home. The video showed children playing with old hats, radio and sports equipment in grandmother’s attic, where a long-forgotten gun was lying on the floor. Eddie Eagle swoops in to help the children do the right thing and stop what they’re doing, leave the area and tell grandmother.

We frequently cover different stories about programs for youth, but on a recent visit to NRA Headquarters, 10 year-old McKenzie Adamowicz roamed the halls of NRA to find out what kind of things young people can participate in. From air gun competitions to firearms training, our Youth Programs Department, Eddie Eagle®, YHEC, and the National Firearms Museum, McKenzie had quite a few stops to make. She even made a few friends along the way, albeit the furry kind. Check out her visit in the photo slideshow above.