cuchulainn
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from the Bedford Minuteman
http://www.thehighroad.org/newthread.php?s=&action=newthread&forumid=4
http://www.thehighroad.org/newthread.php?s=&action=newthread&forumid=4
High School, police review guidelines for rifle range
By Natalie Goodale / Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 19, 2003
With today's gun laws much more strict than in the 1950s, Bedford High School is reviewing its guidelines for the rifle range it houses in its basement.
According to Superintendent Maureen LaCroix, a concerned parent led her to talk to Bedford Police Chief Hicks about the range.
"There have not been exact written guidelines for the use of the rifle range, so we developed some," she said. "It's a work in progress."
LaCroix and Hicks went over the laws that are now in place regarding having firearms on school grounds.
"The only people allowed to have firearms are police officers," Hicks said. "But whoever controls the school campus can give permission to anyone else."
LaCroix and Hicks said it is unusual to have a rifle range inside a high school. They believe it may have been built because the military helped build the high school years ago.
"I know of only one other school in the state with a rifle range," said Hicks. "This is a military town, and it always had ROTC, so that was probably the mentality at the time the school was built."
Hicks said they want to make a clear set of written rules regarding the range and what weapons can be used there. The rifle team now uses an air-rifle that shoots pellets; this gun is not considered a firearm, and this weapon will be allowed. The rifle team used to use a 22-caliber gun, which is now prohibited. Also, Hicks and LaCroix decided permission slips are necessary. Beginning at last Saturday's tournament, every child, including team members from visiting teams, must have permission slips.
"Some people may say this is going overboard, but better safe than sorry," Hicks said.
The school currently owns six of these air-rifles.
LaCroix said she reviewed how the rifle team uses the range and also how it is used by the community.
"As we got into looking at it, we looked at the rifle team and at the use of it by the community, as it is used by adult education in Bedford," she said.
Hicks said the issue of these guidelines surfaced in part because of something the rifle team's coach, Roland Griffin, decided to do. Griffin is licensed to teach gun safety, and so he brought in his own firearms at one point to teach the students about gun safety. But that is something that cannot happen anymore.
According to LaCriox, the rifle team primarily competes by mail, meaning they have a competition at their own venue while another team competes on their own. The two teams then exchange their results of the competition by mail.
Sue Gregory, a parent of a student on the rifle team, wants to make sure everyone has the same idea of what weapons are allowed. She believes the officials have all different opinions on what is allowed.
"The athletic director and the coach don't have the same idea as Dr. LaCroix and the officer," she said.
Gregory said it is not her intention to make the rifle team go away, but she wants to make sure there are safety standards.
LaCroix said this has become a bigger issue after the Columbine incident. And it would be easiest to just put a stop to the whole program, since she has the ability to prohibit firearms from school grounds. But it has become a tradition.
"It's easier to say 'stop it', but I am working to continue the tradition," she said. "One question is, 'Is it OK to continue this in a different world?' I want to continue to do this with children's safety in mind."
A step LaCroix has already taken is to have the locks changed in the rifle range.
According to Hicks, the School Committee is now working to approve a draft that will fully list the rules and regulations of rifle range and firearms.
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