Youth training

[Atavar]

With everything that is going on in the world I think it is imperative that we start lobbying our schools to offer shooting sports and safety training as an elective to our high school students. Considering the prevalence of firearms in our society it is ludicrous that we do not offer structured and certified training to our kids in a venue where they are comfortable.
While I am sure that all of the readers here take the time to educate their children there are many kids that have no opportunity for exposure and training at home.
I realize there is significant cost involved but I don’t think getting sponsorship would be terribly hard. In the grand scheme of things the cost of a dozen .22 pistols, bolt action .22 rifles, pellet guns and .410 shotguns is not that extreme.
I bet most local ranges would be happy to host facilities, and perhaps even certified instructors. Sporting goods shops should be an easy sell, and while I don’t know for sure I bet large organizations like NRA have sponsorship programs for schools.
I know there would be some opposition, but in reality the same arguments that support sex education apply to firearms training.
Perhaps I am trying to reinvent the wheel here. I am somewhat removed from youth schools anymore. I just think we have to do something to give our kids the skills and knowledge they need.

 

[P5 Guy]

High School Shooting Teams Are Getting Popular in the U.S. | Time

High School Shooting Teams Are Getting Wildly Popular — And the NRA Is Helping (yahoo.com)

Home - SSSF - Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (sssfonline.org)

NCAA also has collegiate shooting matches. Ginny Thrasher earned a gold medal in Brazil Olympics. She was member of the WV Mountaineers shooting team.

 

[entropy]

Having been a 4-H Shooting Sports Leader and a Trap coach for a High School Team, I've found that not only does it teach the basics, it offers something positive for them to get enthusiastic about. Reiterating safety rules at every range session was mandatory for 4-H, and it worked. I've always stressed safety with whomever I'm shooting with, though adult males tend to let it go in one ear and out the other because, ego.
Seeing a young shooter put it all together, and start shooting well is the best reward one can have for volunteering to mentor them. The self-confidence and respect for themselves and the gun are lessons that stick with them. Even if they don't go on to shoot as an adult, they've developed a healthy relationship with guns, and are less likely to turn anti, or misuse them.

 

[BJung]

I agree 100%. I tried hard organizing the various shooting clubs to sponsor air rifle clubs in my State of California to develop interest in the shooting sports and educate the public. The results were spotty. Only 3 American Legion Posts were brave enough to consider it. This was just before the Pandemic. As you know, Californias is controlled by anti-gun politicians. Ranges are closed because California accuses them of lead poisoning. A club in San Jose taught gun safety to the Public and the City who owned the property the club was on closed them down.

 

[.455_Hunter]

Even here in Boulder, my son's Troop has high participation in the shooting sports merit badges, making them one of the more common non-Eagle required elective choices. The shooting is done either at summer camp or at the local range. The same range hosts NRA Junior Smallbore, High-power, and Pistol (introduction/familiarization) for age ~10 - 20 (as appropriate).

 

[BJung]

Even here in Boulder, my son's Troop has high participation in the shooting sports merit badges, making them one of the more common non-Eagle required elective choices. The shooting is done either at summer camp or at the local range. The same range hosts NRA Junior Smallbore, High-power, and Pistol (introduction/familiarization) for age ~10 - 20 (as appropriate).

With so many Liberals movig into your State, may I suggest you promote your shooting program at a 4th of Jully parade?

 

[armoredman]

4H pistol coach here - check your areas to see if the 4H Shooting Sports program is available, GREAT resource.

 

[dave951]

Ok I'll chime in since I'm actively involved with youth shooting sports.

First- Nearly ALL youth shooting sports programs will require that those engaged are certified instructors. That means if you aren't certified- NRA, NMLRA, 4H etc, you cannot participate. Many in the "gun" world are wrapped up in their own activities that they don't have time to get that certification. Most certification courses with the NRA will consist of the Basic (XYZ arm), Basic Instructor Training, Instructor (XYZ arm) for a total of 3 courses and they ain't free.

Second- Supplies/materials. A shooting sports program of any type will require arms, targets, ammunition and a certified range. There's not much way around this either.

So what we've done. I'm the president of the Yadkin Valley Rangers, an NMLRA Charter Club consisting solely of Muzzleloading Instructors and those supporting our work. We are working to create more Muzzleloading Instructors, support existing black powder youth programs and actively instruct with youth programs. This weekend, we finished up the NRA series of courses for 5 folks to become NRA certified Muzzleloading Instructors. The NRA Muzzleloading Instructor cert is one of the most difficult to get for several reasons. First, there is a limited number of T/Cs certified to teach it. Second, you must qualify with muzzleloading rifle, pistol and shotgun to be eligible to take the Instructor course as opposed to just one arm in the other certs. Third, many T/Cs are set up as a commercial enterprise meaning the prices they charge can be prohibitive when trying to get classes set up.

A short history of what we're doing. Several years back, a group of us North South Skirmish Assoc competitors were looking for ways to promote muzzleloading and black powder shooting in general to help halt the decline in those sports. There are lots of guys pushing pew pew, but few work in the traditional and historic arms. We got certified, obtained some corporate support and started an effort in a Scout camp.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/so-heres-what-weve-been-up-to.115764/
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/a-follow-up-on-the-scout-project.115989/

Covid reared it's ugly head and put the brakes on us for a while but we're back in the saddle-

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/were-back-at-it.133586/
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...ar-cripple-creek-at-mountain-man-camp.134409/

We are gearing up to work in the camp next summer. We go one day per week and spend the entire day on the range with youth. The kids are in the "Mountain Man" wilderness program where they live in a primitive camp removed about 1.5mi from the main camp. They live the 19th century lifestyle and learn forging, traditional carpentry with only hand tools, traditional cooking, leather working and of course, muzzleloading shooting. We're also at the point where we can offer black powder programs to various clubs and are getting them into a presentable format. At the end of the day, working with youth and seeing them successful at muzzleloading is worth every bit of the effort. Even if they never go back to the "holy black", we've been giving them a positive experience in black powder arms that will translate later into respect for the 2A and have a working knowledge of firearms safety.

And here's a couple pix of why we keep at this-

Best shot of the entire summer


Great pic of a very bad cheek weld. This kid struggled to shoot as well as his friends.


Class on safety and history before any shooting starts.


We use a range of guns from a sorta "Hawkin" to Civil War muskets. The kids almost universally prefer the muskets.




One of our instructors is a Rev War reenactor and flintlock gunsmith. This guy can shoot a Bess better than many can a rifle.


It's an all day effort. Hot, loud, tiring, yup but completely and utterly worth it.

 

[entropy]

Awesome, Dave!

 

[armoredman]

The senior coach with the 4H program I am with has suggested I do the 4H MuzzleLoading cert as well - I don't think it's quite that extensive. But I'll have to see if any of the kids actually want to do it. Very cool pictures, thanks!

 

[dave951]

The senior coach with the 4H program I am with has suggested I do the 4H MuzzleLoading cert as well - I don't think it's quite that extensive. But I'll have to see if any of the kids actually want to do it. Very cool pictures, thanks!

The 4H cert is the odd duck in the mix. 4H doesn't recognize the NRA cert and NOBODY but 4H recognizes the 4H cert. When we looked into this, we found that 4H is off in their own world on this subject. We have a limited amount of time and resources. 4H is a very, very, small part of the total of youth organizations. Scouts is by far the largest. We've made the choice to work where we can reach the most kids. If 4H is all you have in your area, by all means, go with them. But know the limitations.

 

[armoredman]

Thank you for your reply - I was asked to join 4H by a senior instructor, and yes, I know it is hardly renowned or even known about, but they do have local, state and national championships as well in firearms, archery and air rifle/pistol. The certification process for 4H was laborious and convoluted, and I don't intend to seek any more instructor certs at this time, nor do I really care about any "limitations", as it's all about helping kids learn how to shoot safely, for me. If you are dismissive of the efforts of 4H instructors, that is up to you, and I wish you success in your chosen venue.

 

[dave951]

Thank you for your reply - I was asked to join 4H by a senior instructor, and yes, I know it is hardly renowned or even known about, but they do have local, state and national championships as well in firearms, archery and air rifle/pistol. The certification process for 4H was laborious and convoluted, and I don't intend to seek any more instructor certs at this time, nor do I really care about any "limitations", as it's all about helping kids learn how to shoot safely, for me. If you are dismissive of the efforts of 4H instructors, that is up to you, and I wish you success in your chosen venue.

I am not dismissive of the folks involved with 4H, just know that their cert, while patterned on the NRA, is not recognized anywhere but 4H.

 

[armoredman]

BTW, maybe you could cash in on this one, apparently the Scouts lost a big lawsuit and are selling off their camp lands? Might be a golden opportunity.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-congress-sexual-abuse-9e991d917edc0f10b17e586b8f8259d2

 

[dave951]

BTW, maybe you could cash in on this one, apparently the Scouts lost a big lawsuit and are selling off their camp lands? Might be a golden opportunity.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-congress-sexual-abuse-9e991d917edc0f10b17e586b8f8259d2

In reading the article, it looks like they’re selling off smaller parcels mainly in northern tier states. I don’t think for one minute the camp we work with will be sold because it’s huge and draws kids from all over the southeast. I think the week long summer camps will condense a bit. Some camps are small and almost economically unviable.