Please help my kids and other kids by hitting this poll and leaving a CIVIL comment if you want to.
Article and Poll
Ernie Harpster and Jim Harbison are both good guys, Both Master shooters who put a lot of time into teaching kids how to shoot and compete.
Article and Poll
Ernie Harpster and Jim Harbison are both good guys, Both Master shooters who put a lot of time into teaching kids how to shoot and compete.
STATE COLLEGE — A local BB gun club is seeking an exception from the State College Area School District’s weapons policy to hold a state championship at Mount Nittany Middle School.
The idea alone has already divided the school board, with some members saying they are worried about sending mixed messages to kids about bringing BB guns to school.
“We have had expulsions that have involved this policy,” said Lou Ann Evans, one of three board members who voted Monday against putting the proposal on the agenda for the next meeting.
Ernest Harpster, leader of the Tussey Mountain Junior Rifle Club, and James Harbison, assistant leader, said the March 22 competition is a chance to teach kids the importance of gun safety.
Under the proposal, about 80 to 120 junior rifle members from across the state would gather at the school’s gymnasium to practice shooting targets in a supervised setting.
Harpster said the cafeteria is needed to provide lunch, and classrooms are used for scorekeeping and administering a written test.
The competition will be safer than other sports the district offers, he said.
“Every motion of that BB gun is controlled. You are never going to have to face a speeding baseball coming at your head 90 miles per hour,” Harpster said. “We really think our sport is safe.”
The school district’s weapon policy states that “weapons and replicas of weapons” are prohibited from “any school district building.” Students who bring them to school would face expulsion for at least a year.
“If we read the policy, it’s going to tell us the answer to your request is no,” board President Rick Madore said. But the board has the authority to make an exception, he added.
And BB gun championships have been held at schools before. Penns Valley Area High School, in fact, has hosted such contests in recent years.
As a taxpayer of 47 years, Harpster said, he wanted to hold the competition in State College this year in hopes that it would also shed some positive light on the sport.
“There are a lot of negative things about shooting in this area and a lot of good comes out of this (event),” he said. “If they don’t approve it, we will probably have to go back to Penns Valley.”
Board member Chris Small asked Harpster to submit a written letter from Penns Valley administrators indicating how the event has been held there in the past.
The board voted 6-3 to add the proposal to the agenda for the Jan. 28 meeting. Dissenting members were Evans, Gowen Roper and David Hutchinson.
