My mind has not been changed and I still think that opening a firearms range in a high school is a terrible idea although I now see more details about the program such as the rifles are single shots firing .177 caliber pellets. Here are some snippets from The Huntsville Times article:
First, to dispel one possible fear, local JROTC programs use single-shot, .177-caliber air rifles, not high-powered rifles. Students use flat-headed pellets, not bullets.
Linda Haynes of the North Alabama Peace Network isn't convinced school ranges are safe.
"We need to be teaching conflict resolution skills rather than teaching (students) a violent skill, giving them something to commit violence," Haynes said.
For Haynes, whose group campaigns against war and violence, it's the idea of teens using guns that's bothersome. "I'm floored that they're doing that at that age."
But Hobbs and other JROTC instructors say precautions and training minimize the chance of injury.
Hobbs said he will recruit a shooting team this fall when the range opens. He said no student will be allowed inside the range before acing a safety test, demonstrating maturity and getting fit.
"There's going to be a lot of pushups done on this sidewalk before anybody goes in there," Hobbs said in front of the range, behind the school.
Safety first
I was also unaware that there are shooting ranges at Grissom, Johnson, Lee, Sparkman, and Buckhorn. I have to say that I find that shooting ranges of any sort are incorporated into a high school atmosphere to be disturbing. I went through ROTC in college and 4 years of military service in the U.S. Navy without ever firing a weapon!
I'm genuinely surprised and amazed that the presence of shooting ranges in high schools doesn't generate more concern.
Let me also say that I am the owner of a .177 caliber pellet rifle although I have not had any pellets for probably 8 years!
6 comments:
Hey Fred,
I have to say I had not heard of this prior to your post. While I'm sure you and many of your readers many not agree with what I'm going to say, I'd like to put it out there just the same.
In the interest of fairness, I am a veteran of more than 14 years. I spent enough hours on the range to loose hearing in my right ear. I also have a 15 year old daughter benefiting from the Madison County School System.
While I can certainly understand the concern brought about by any mention of guns and school, as with all things, this particular program must be taken in context.
While one objective of the program will be to develop a competitive shooting team, a skill btw that can and does exist outside the context of warfare, the underlying principle these students will learn is discipline.
Safety is a discipline. Push-ups are to reinforce discipline. As defined in military terms discipline is the initiation of proper actions in the absence of orders or direction.
While some of the students may get involved to shoot, they will all walk away more disciplined, and that is something we need more of.
Show me a disciplined shooting team, debate team, football or basketball team and I'll show you better citizens and meaningful contributors to society.
Fred, thanks for giving us the opportunity to keep on top of what's going on around our community and for giving me the opportunity to bring a different point of view to the table.
Thom
Thom,
I understand what you're saying and I appreciate your response. I must say that I'm conflicted over this. I'm 60 years old and grew up in the country in South Carolina. I'm no stranger to guns of any sort and applaud the safe and responsible use of firearms, but I am not convinced that a firing range in a school environment is either safe or wise.
I would really like to physically see how this program is implemented!
Again, thanks for your response and here's wishing you a great week!
Hey Fred,
I've known about this for some time as that I am a student at New Century Technology High School (the one they used the land grant for to build Columbia High School and the student body to justify sports teams, and then shoved off into the CHS student body with a bunch of inner-city drug dealers and idiots). I took part in the JROTC program at Columbia; Chief Hobbs and First Sergeant Brown-Clay run a good program. That gun range offers a chance to learn responsibility and be trusted to a group of kids and young adults who are degraded on a daily basis by a system that neither accomplishes its mission or serves the students. I have witnessed the Huntsville school system systematically dismantle my school and replace it with something that offers very little. I have given up on the public education system and have been admitted to the University of Alabama through Early Admission without a High School Diploma. But things like that rifle range give me some hope that maybe in the future it can better accomplish its goals and offer me some semblance of an education. I think you would be interested in blogging on the issue at NCTH, look it up if you get a chance.
Tim Spires
I am a student at Columbia and I personally know Chief
Hobbs and First Sergant Brown-Clay. The shooting range won't be used for almost any students to use. Practically only about 6 students will ever get to touch those guns, and they are beyond responsible. Or JROTC is for the Army, not the Navy. The Navy doesn't use guns, they just call in the Marines when they need help. The Army and Marines use guns, Navy in't in the same league, they're at sea, they never see the opposition face-to-face. Our last commander of our JROTC enlisted in the Army already, and his training starts right after high school, but it looks better if our JROTC cadets are as versitile as possible, since, our program has a vast array of students, some just got stuck in there, but most of the others do want to join the military. If you're opposing guns, you don't belong ever being in the military, end of story. - Army "Brat" Kate
As one of the those individuals who will be working with the students on shooting techniques, I'd like to offer my perspective. I was also the Rifle Team Captain when I was in high school JROTC.
The purpose of the range is NOT to teach violence. Quite the contrary. The range instills discipline in students that most Americans don't have with regard to weapons. We will teach proper handling techniques, ensuring that students understand they can't point them at other individuals. None of the targets are human sillouhettes.
I would argue that only warmongers look at a weapons as a symbol of violence. There may very well come a time in our lives when we are forced to rely on ourselves to obtain food. A successful meal may be just a steady hand away. The range teaches proper breathing techniques and steady aim. It teaches the kids patience and attention to detail.
From my years on the JROTC rifle team, I never once even thought about using that rifle to inflict damage or harm to another individual. That isn't the purpose. JROTC isn't about teaching violence and conflict resolution is actually a part of the curriculum as I remember it. If the cavemen had that mentality about weapons, we wouldn't be here today.
My name is Jonathan Carter. I was Rifle Team Captain at Lee High School for the 1995, 1996 and 1997 school years.
We shot the .22 caliber rifle bullet as well as the .177 caliber pellet. I had heard that the .22 was being phased out but I've no idea.
I placed in the top ten (maybe top 5?) with the .22 and I was 2nd place in North Alabama schools for the .177 pellet division in 1996.
I know at my school, you were not just "handed" a rifle and let loose with it. There were countless hours/days/weeks of study. A disorderly student was never allowed in the rifle range. PERIOD.
This program gave a young nerdy boy something to look forward to everyday. Something that I had a knack for. I had goals. Working toward and achieving those goals has carried me far beyond that rifle range. I am now a father myself. I work for the DoD. I am still a more focused and more driven individual because with the help of JROTC and Rifle Team, I learned STRUCTURE.
Let me add one more thing...
Just as acts of terror bankrupted our airlines, the thought of a child with a rifle on school grounds will eventually kill the marksmanship program.
My father carried his .22 to school when he was a child. He and his friends hunted on the way home.
Funny, you never heard of school shootings back then. Why? Because children were commonly trained with a weapon and trained to know their limits and reprocussions.
Now you have a bunch of whiny and curios children who get no attention from parents. ROTC and Rifle Team is a way out for that child and the degridation of such programs will only make the problem worse. Grow a pair.
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