Buffalo Bill presents NRA’s Eddie Eagle for Territory Days in Old Colorado

NRA Volunteer Spreads the Life-Saving Message of the Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program

Gene Johnson playing Buffalo Bill and spreading the Eddie Eagle message at Frontier Day

Colorado Springs, Colorado – NRA Volunteers come in all shapes and sizes. We have professional shooters who teach basic shooting, retired collectors who work at the museum and concerned citizens like Gene Johnson who spread the word about the Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program … and he does so in a very unique manner.

Dressed as Buffalo Bill Cody, Mr. Johnson attends events like Territory Days in Old Colorado City to pass out Eddie Eagle materials to families in attendance. Here’s more from this year’s Territory Days:

“An estimated attendance of 150,000 turned out for the annual Memorial Day 2013 event in Colorado Springs. Gene Johnson gave three performances as Colonel William F. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody and distributed over 900 NRA Eddie Eagle ‘Parents Guide to Gun Safety’, as well as over a thousand Eddie Eagle Coloring Books and Comic Books to parents and their kids.

Even local law enforcement came by to express their appreciation and picked up packets of the Parents Guides for redistribution. Several day-care operators asked for stickers, coloring books and Parents Guides for their students. Everyone expressed their appreciation for the NRA material and Buffalo Bill’s participation.

Many listened to Buffalo Bill’s stories about ‘Lucretia Borgia’, an actual 1866 50/70 Springfield Trapdoor Rifle (the sister to Col. Cody’s Trapdoor that earned him his name of Buffalo Bill and the title ‘Champion Buffalo Hunter of the West’).

Buffalo Bill had a great love for children and admitted orphans free of charge to his Wild West educational experience over its many years. Gene Johnson feels that Colonel Cody would have heartily approved of these efforts to inform families about Gun Safety.’

The Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program has taught more than 26 million pre-K through 3rd graders Eddie’s lifesaving message that if you see a gun, then you should: STOP, DON’T TOUCH, LEAVE THE AREA, TELL AN ADULT. Learn more about Eddie Eagle on their webpage at eddieeagle.nra.org.

NRAblog is your connection to the programs of the NRA. It is a project of the NRA’s Media Relations Division.
PUBLISHING:
NRA Executive Director: Kyle Weaver

CONTRIBUTORS:
Lars Dalseide. E-mail him at LDalseide (AT) nrahq.org.
Kyle Jillson. E-mail him at KJillson (AT) nrahq.org.
Justin McDaniel E-mail him at JMcDaniel (AT) nrahq.org.