High school rifle club/team

[LkWinnipesaukee]

Awhile ago I made a thread about trying to start a rifle team at my school. Now I kinda revised my idea to something more practical (albeit still impossible ).

My family is joining a new gun club sometime in February. They have indoor and outdoor rifle ranges (the inside is 22lr only), and hold a basic firearm safety course.

I might ask them if they would be interested in helping me start a rifle club at my school. I figure I could someone (don't know who yet) to pay for some starter .22 rifles and ammo (and have them stored at the club, off campus). Then I would have all the kids go to one of the safety courses, and after that, start shooting against each other. I have friends in other schools that might be interested in starting the same thing. If THAT works, we could have a competitive league going.

I don't think the school would mind if they had a rifle club/team as long as the "bad stuff" (ammo, guns, etc) were all kept off campus.

Questions...

Is this at ALL practical? Keep in mind I live in MA.

If so, how would I approach the gun club directors and school administration? How would I get the school to know I'm serious and not just some nut?

I guess we could try to do some fundraising, but is there any chance the school would want to drop ~$1000 (maybe more) on some guns and ammo (I know they have the money; they just spent $60 million on a renovation project that is both unfinished and 3 years overdue)?

Any other advice? If I could get this going, it would be INCREDIBLE.


Thanks!

 

[Kali Endgame]

I wish you all the luck. Keep us informed when you succeed.

BTW we had the javelin toss removed from the track and field program because it was too dangerous.

 

[The Rifleman]

I think that is a great idea and you might even be able to get some of the forum members to kick in and help you out..

One of the best ways is to say your name and introduce yourself and also your school. The area where it is located and how many people would like to get involved with your project.

I was just thinking about all the people that collect M1 Garands and a man that I met 12 years ago that showed me his.

Our great country has a problem and it is a lack of proper leadership.
Everytime we have a war we forget all that we learned from previous wars.
During the Great War, we had no snipers. Since there was some farm kids that knew how to shoot already. The Army set up a sniper program that taught them advanced shooting technics and also gave them some better guns for the task at hand.

After the treaty or Versailles we dropped our guns in the dirt and went home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles
There was a depression after that where our country couldn't justify spending money to train our soldiers the art of sniping..

During the second world war, once again we had to resurrect the art of sniping. After that war, again we thought that it was a bad thing to sit in the dark with a rifle or hide out and shoot people from long distances.

But after the Vietnam war our government decided that we could no longer think that way and they started the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
http://www.odcmp.com/

Basically it gave away guns and ammo at a very reduced cost to gun clubs that started a program to teach young people how to shoot properly in a supervised enviroment.

My friend belonged to one such club and also was a member of the Pennsylvania 30 caliber league.
http://www.readerange.org/

His club gave him the opportunity to teach young people how to properly shoot small arms. His other opportunity came when he was able to purchase a new M1 Garand National Match Grade rifle for about $16.00

They even sold him a 30 Carbine for about the same price..

Army ammo was cheap - they had Lake City Arsenal rounds by the thousands.

When the city expanded and they sold part of their club to developers he finally left the club - never to return.. Since they took away the rifle range and all that was left was a pistol range and a small range for .22 rifles...

One of the highlights of his life was competing against other shooters at the Camp Perry Matches.
http://www.nrahq.org/compete/champ3.asp

There you not only was able to shoot against some of the best marksmen in the country.. They also had the Navy there at that time and their Armorers would repair your M1 Garands free of charge... Some were even known to give you free parts to keep you shooting.. I was told that much of the accuracy of the M1 was due to a good Operating Rod.
http://www.fulton-armory.com/OpRod.htm

Also told to me was the fact that factory ammo for the M1 is not loaded to max like some factory ammo of today and that you never should shoot high power reloads in your origional M1 because it would damage the Op Rod in short order..

I hope you take my advice and read the articles that I provided for you and get involved with this.. Get your family involved and maybe they might even be able to get a deal on a good gun in the process...

Gun clubs are great for people that live in areas of the country where you cannot go out your back door and shoot anytime you want like I could when I was a kid.

I wish you all the luck in the world, and please let us know how you are making out on this project.

 

[P0832177]

Another thought which is more practical is go to the club and see what junior programs they have. Skip the school aspect.

 

[Steve N]

You need to put together a written plan, just like a business plan, present it to the school board. You will need to show where shooting will take place, who will be in charge, how its going to be paid for, who will be allowed to be a member, who will be coaches, how the school board will be protected from liablility, and how will the students benefit. After you put hours of time and trouble into the project, the school board will most likely say NO. Not because its a bad idea, or they are anti-gun, or any other reason than 1. Its cheaper to say NO. 2. Its easier to say NO and not have to put any effort into a new project. 3. There is no liability in saying NO.

I don't want to be negative, but the schoolboard beauracy will kill you. You'll be out of college before they say yes.

An easier, faster way would be to see if the new club either has a junior program, or is willing to start one. As long as the club is within a reasonable distance of the school, you could recruit fellow students to join. Your high school principal may be willing to let you put up flyers advertising for new members of the club, as long as all activity takes place outside of school and off school grounds. You may not be able to have non-shooting meetings, fundraisers or other activities on school grounds, or use the school's name in association with your club. But you could be shooting together, and that is the most important thing.

The new club may have a few mentors who would be interested in getting training rifles thru the CMP, etc.

Good luck. Not every kid can play sports, or be in the band, etc. Everyone needs access to different sports to bring out their true potential.

 

[Fly320s]

Ask the club that you are joining about programs already in place.

For more ideas contact the good folks up at Major Waldron Sportsmen Association in Barrington, NH. That's the club I belong to. They have a junior program in place and a 4H program. I'm sure that you can get some info from them.

www.majorwaldron.com

 

[gdvan01]

I don't want to be negative, but the schoolboard beauracy will kill you. You'll be out of college before they say yes.

+1

Yep, I actually approached the admins when I was in high school (ok, so it's been 20+ years...) to start something like this. Talk about resistance, they cried liability so loud...even back in the 70's...I could swear they were sweating as I was standing there.

I guess it may be easier to accomplish something like this in an area other that the D.C. suburbs.

 

[mete]

Back in the good old days [pre 1968] they even had rifle teams in the NYC school system .Mine was one of them and there was never a problem. But they were shut down in the anti-gun hysteria post '68. Today we add to that the numerous Columbine type school shootings .Your chances of starting one are very small. I suggest you start something for kids at a local shooting range .

 

[buck00]

Good luck. In this day and age, if you walk into the school office proposing a "gun club" you could be breaking the "zero tolerance policy" and risk being kicked out of school, arrested, and demonized by the local papers.

You have the rest of your life to shoot competitively- you should play football or baseball while you are still young.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

It would seem far, far easier to go for an off-campus option.

Ask around at the range, find out if 4H, CMP, or any other organization with a Junior division, as other posters have suggested.

Aside from actual matches, you could look into such an org sponsoring Introductory classes at reduced or no cost. That way you can "viral market" it around your friends, call the org and say "I've got 20 teenagers, with parental approval, who want to learn Firearm Safety, can we put together the space, gear, and coaches next month?"

Maybe start small, get someone to run a 12-student safety class, and then build up from there. Surely someone in your area must have the a half-dozen 22 rifles or pistols. You'd just need to negotiate with the range for reduced-rate or free lanes (as Educational Outreach), and find a few bucks for a brick of ammo. You and two adult coaches should be able to cover the group in two or three relays.

Start small, establish feelers, and go from there. I wouldn't start raising funds or buying gear yet. Establish a small track-record for success, and that will greatly increase your credibility.


I seriously don't think that a highschool would be supportive: they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. There are a hundred extracurricular activities that the school would rather you do than shoot; activities which don't expose them to controversy, liability, etc.


Summary: start small with a 6-12 person Firearms Safety live-fire class, and build from there.

-MV

 

[Fawkes]

Check with the NRA's competition devision. They will be able to help you out in more ways than you can count.

 

[rchernandez]

Here's a similar effort outside Memphis, TN. Check out his website:

http://www.wtjrt.org/