CHARLESTON — Reading, writing and arithmetic. Now add the proper method of calling a turkey or spotting deer from a tree stand.

And, most importantly, how to properly handle a firearm.

Provided, that is, your local school board and principal think the idea of a hunting class is a sound one.

West Virginia lawmakers felt so this session with a news-making idea generated by Sens. Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming, and Shirley Love, D-Fayette, to add hunting to the curriculum.

House members cleared the bill 90-6 Friday night, but not before two Kanawha County delegates ridiculed the idea of letting students get a crash course in hunting and safety.

“In this day and age where obesity is a major concern, under this bill, a person will be able to leave his or her physical education class to learn how to shoot guns?” Delegate Danny Wells, D-Kanawha, asked.

Delegate Bonnie Brown, D-Kanawha, who also voted against the bill, as did four others, complained it would take students away from classroom time.

“I guess this was considered to be a pressing need in our school curriculum,” she scorned.

Education Chairwoman Mary Poling, D-Barbour, acknowledged the idea might not be as popular in metropolitan areas but said it would be in rural counties such as her own where hunting is “a huge recreation activity for the youth there.”

“This concept of teaching hunting safety courses in public schools is nothing new,” Delegate Tim Ennis, D-Brooke, said. “It’s been going on in West Virginia for a number of years.”

Originally, the Bailey-Love bill called for all schools to offer the 10-hour course spread over a two-week period.

What’s more, Finance Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo, explained, more students would be eligible by offering it to those in the sixth through 12 grades. The Senate’s idea was to start the class in the eighth grade.

“Student interest justifies offering the program,” White told delegates, adding, “if a certified instructor is available.”

Students completing it would be eligible to apply for a hunting license.

No actual ammo would be permitted, Bailey has often stressed to allay fears of some with memories of school shootings in mind, and instructors would have to be approved by the Division of Natural Resources.

Bailey and Love for years sought to create a mandatory firearms safety course in schools, but never got further than the Senate.

This year, the two devised a new strategy — turn it into a mandatory hunting class.

Not only did the proposal catch the interest of media outlets across the nation and even in France, but the idea was picked up by the National Rifle Association.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com