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from the Minneapolis Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1405/4163277.html
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1405/4163277.html
Zero-tolerance gun policy runs counter to gun-safety classes at school
Richard Meryhew, Star Tribune
Published October 20, 2003
WINONA, MINN. -- When Nick Ziegeweid signed up for a firearms safety course at Winona Middle School earlier this fall, he was told to bring his shotgun. Better to learn how to handle the equipment he'd use when hunting than to have an instructor show him how to handle a gun he'd never seen.
But when the 12-year-old boy attended his first class Oct. 11, school administrators and instructors met him and about 40 other students outside the school to remind them they couldn't bring their guns inside.
The reason: the district's year-old "zero-tolerance" policy prohibits students from carrying guns on school grounds, even if they are unloaded and used only for instructional purposes.
"I think with all that's gone on, for me, I'm OK with them not having the guns," said Debbie Ziegeweid, Nick's mother. "I think it bothered my son more, just because he was ready to learn how to use it."
The school board's refusal late last month to make an exception for the state-sponsored gun-safety course has sparked passionate debate in Winona, a Mississippi River town of 27,000 residents located in the heart of fertile hunting and fishing territory.
It also has implications for the rest of rural Minnesota, where gun-safety classes are a staple of education in many school districts and taught at school buildings without a second thought.
"It's like teaching a math class without a calculator," said Scott Sabotta, the course instructor. "The whole point of the class is to save injury or life. In some ways, our hands have been tied with the decision that they made."
Said Steve Kranz, chairman of the Winona school board, "We can't pretend that guns don't exist. The question is: Do schools have a role in educating people about firearms?"
Several board members argue that there is no better or safer place to teach the Saturday-morning class than at a school building. Students are familiar and comfortable with the setting, they say, and the course can be taught without bias from gun clubs or other organizations.
But supporters of the zero-tolerance policy point to the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado and last month's shooting deaths of two students at Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minn., as reasons to ban all firearms from school grounds.
"There needs to be some safety zones," said Sue Brown, a school board member. "And I think a school district and a school building should be held in higher regard than it is. It's a difficult climate, it's a different day and age. Whatever you can do to restrict, restrict."
Every gun different
Each year, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources sponsors scores of gun safety courses across Minnesota. In many small towns, the most practical spot to hold class often is the local school.
For years, the course in Winona was taught several nights a week for several weeks at a local high school. That changed four or five years ago, when Sabotta, the principal instructor, moved it to a local sportsmen's club.
As part of the class, students were encouraged to bring their own guns or rifles -- without ammunition -- so that instructors could show them how to work and carry the firearm they'd be using on deer or game hunts.
Fred Petersen, a Winona school board member and retired conservation officer who has taught similar courses in the past, said "hands-on" training is the best way to teach gun safety.
"It also enables the instructors to examine the firearms to make sure they are safe and serviceable," Petersen said.
Said Sabotta, "Every gun is a little different, and they should be familiar with it. The last thing I want to see is them going out without having a clue on what they are handling."
This summer, Sabotta moved the course to Winona Middle School because of scheduling conflicts. Although the DNR sponsors the class, the district donates classroom space and promotes it.
But days before the first class Oct. 11, Superintendent Eric Bartleson notified board members of a problem -- the district's weapons policy, adopted in June 2002 and amended earlier this fall, prohibited students from bringing firearms onto school grounds. The course could still be taught, he said, and instructors could bring unloaded firearms. But students couldn't bring their guns.
Frustrated, Petersen requested a special board meeting to persuade colleagues to make an exception to the policy. The majority didn't budge.
"It's not that I'm against the class -- it's an important thing, especially in our area," said Brown, who works part time for the Goodview Police Department and whose son attended the class last year. "I just don't think guns need to be on school property for any reason."
Brown said the Columbine and Cold Spring killings illustrate just how dangerous schools have become.
"The climate has changed," she said. "There's been too much tragedy already."
Said Bartleson, "Principals don't want to see guns in the building under any circumstance. It's just one more thing to worry about."
But Larry Laber, a school board member, countered that a school setting is the best place to teach the course. "You go to the National Guard armory, and there's a military atmosphere," he said. "The one thing the school offers that the others can't is a neutral ground."
Said Petersen, "There is not a kid in this country that doesn't know how to shoot a gun. They've seen it on TV and in movies thousands and thousands of times. We're not teaching shooting. We're teaching safe handling of firearms."
Other options
On Saturday the students enrolled in Sabotta's class met at the school for the second of three training sessions. All guns were unloaded; all were provided by Sabotta or other instructors. Next week, the students will complete their training by going to a shooting range to practice what they've learned.
Petersen said he will try to persuade board members in coming months to amend the district's weapons policy in time for the next course in the spring.
"The common-sense question is, 'Can it be done anywhere else?' Yes, it can," Brown said. "We don't have to make concessions."
But Petersen said that moving the course off school grounds probably would involve a fee -- money that the district, which is financially strapped, couldn't afford. Asking students to pay more than the $5 to $10 now required also seems unreasonable, he said.
"What is the district's responsibility?" he asked. "To provide meaningful education to the community. And this, I think, is a very useful and valuable part of providing education in the community."
Richard Meryhew is at [email protected].
© Copyright 2003 Star Tribune.
