Shots fired at Scout Master - Saluda, SC

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http://wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4973117

Saluda County scout master says he exchanged fire with trespassers

(Saluda) May 31, 2006 - The Saluda County Sheriff's Department and SLED are looking for two suspects believed to have shot at a scout master earlier Wednesday evening.

The incident happened at Camp Barstow in Saluda County.

Sheriff Jason Booth says, "We have the scout master. He saw some individuals on the property. He approached them. One of them had a firearm. It looked like a 357 Magnum. The scout master ordered them to drop the firearm. At that time, they did. A black male came up behind the scout master and the scout master said he fired several rounds at him. At that time, the master returned shots at him."

As for the children, Sheriff Booth says, "The children are a good ways away, probably three-quarters of a mile. And they're safe at this time and we're doing everything we can to keep them safe. I have deputies on the scene with the children right now. And that's my main priority as sheriff of this county is to keep these children safe."

Investigators are now looking for the suspects and looking for clues where the shooting happened.

The white male was wearing shorts and was about 5'8." The black male had long pants, possibly jeans.
 
Sad thing is . . .

BSA does not allow any of its leaders to conceal carry or even open carry during official events.
 
Nick beat me too it................

"BSA does not allow any of its leaders to conceal carry or even open carry during official events"

I hope BSA does not give him grief - with luck this occured at a sanctioned BSA camp (complete w/ the pre-requisite 22 and or shotgun/clays area) - whereby the ScoutMaster could have been armed.

As an aside - I am VERY involved in Cub/Boy Scouts - have my CCW - and will fully protect every boy in my care as if he were my own. If that requires me to be, ahem, discrete while "in uniform", so be it.
 
GREAT! My son is scheduled to go to Camp Barstow on the 10th for a week of camping! :what: Maybe I should let him pack the .380 Govt. model? :D
 
When I was an assistant scoutmaster, the district "brass" wouldn't allow anyone to carry even a fixed-blade knife. Folders only! Shoulda seen the faces when I whipped out the Vaquero Grande! :D

Of course, having a CWP, I would never have dreamed of "carrying" while on a campout or hike . . . :scrutiny: Oddly, no one ever complained. Musta been because it was concealed.

If the scoutmaster "catches grief" from the BSA, he should advise them he's still alive, and they can just eliminate his (nonexistent) salary! Good for him!!
 
No guns for Scouts....

Ain't like it used to be. (Of course, nothing is like it "used to be.")

When I was a Boy Scout, after WW II, we lived in a rural area small town. When we'd go on our various campouts, etc., several Scouts would have a .22 rifle, or a .410 shotgun. EVERYONE had a fixed blade knife, and usually a Plumb Boy Scout hatchet. Our Scoutmaster always had his Colt's Govt. Model .45 ACP, in his pack.

He had a bit of military training. He had been with some piddly little outfit in WW II called the 101 Div. (Abn.) Jumped at Normandy, fought at the Battle of the Bulge, stuff like that. :uhoh:

He was a great Scoutmaster. Guess that today, he'd not be acceptable. Not politically correct enough. (More's the pity.)

L.W.
 
The BSA is a sad shadow of its former self. Even when I was in it in the 80's it was dicey. My friends and I eventually bagged the official proceedings and just treated the summer camps as private vacations, doing overnighters away from the main camp and eventually going further out on horseback. We had a fantastic time, old-school scouting style. Without any of the kumbaya, "up up with people" bravo sierra. I still don't remember just how we managed to get away with it :D But somehow we did.
 
Before everyone starts bashing the scouts as "anti gun", this EXACT camp in question here has not only a rifle merit badge course set up using .22's, but also has a shotgun skeet course using 20 ga. shotguns. They do require the scouts to be 2nd or 3rd year for one and 16 for the other, cannot remember which one though. My son just walked the bridge into scouts two weeks back, so he cannot do either course, even though he probably could out shoot the instructors :neener:
 
scott, up here in RI the youngest scouts can shoot with the .22s, all you need is an orientation and you can go. Have to be 15 for the shotguns though.

The whole carrying thing is a pity, a lot of times were out in the middle of nowhere with only pocket knives to defend ourselves. A nice .41 mag mountain gun always seems to me to be a nice camping accessory, but BS (boy scout or bull ****?) regs state that nobody can carry while camping. Its crap and it pisses me off. Im 17 and I can handle myself in a situation, but theres no way a cop can help us when were a 2 day hike somewhere up in the berkshires. a bunch of the adults in the troop are ex-mil, avid hunters and firearms afficianados with CCWs, so it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

oh and PS, the scouting shooting instructors typically suck, i out shot them everytime and trashed the merit badge instructor in gun knowledge, when a 13 year old kid has to explain the finer points of firearms to a 30 year old, theres a bit of a problem.
 
I carry on every campout. Going to new places with tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, its just prudent.
 
Just because one of the individuals had a firearm he ordered them to drop it. :scrutiny: There should be a whole lot more to this story.
 
Jerkyman, unfortunately the requirements to be a firearms instructor in the scouts are not easy to qualify for, I know several very qualified people who wanted to do it but were passed over for less qualified people who met the requirements. Did somebody mention the Berkshires? That's MY neck of the woods.
 
DMSHEP. last year one of my kids had a misfire on the rifle. He raises his hand and the range attendent comes over, pulls the muzzle over the red line and starts messing with the bolt. The round discharges, and impacts 6 inches from my kid's leg. Yeah, he's real qualified. Thats just my personal experience.
 
The sissy culture is affecting the scouts too.:barf: When I was a scoutmaster I got a mild dressing down for having a Glock Saw back field knife at a Boy Scout event. We we were working on catapults and I thought it would be handy....So I imagine this fellow will get some grief for having his pistol....but thank God he did and I hope he will retort "Imagine what would have happened to the children had I been unarmed"! It will be interesting to watch this story if it goes any further.
 
UPDATE - Story changes slightly

Now the news is reporting it was not a Scout Master, but a caretaker involved.

http://wltx.com/news/news19.aspx?storyid=38438

Saluda Co. Deputies Seek Campground Shooters

(Saluda County) - Saluda County Sheriff's deputies continue their search for two trespassers who fired shots at the caretaker of a Boy Scouts campground.

Sheriff Jason Booth says the shooting happened around 6:30 Wednesday night when the caretaker, who also acts as the camp's park ranger, spotted the two men near the helipad.

Sheriff Booth says the ranger confronted the men, when one fired shots at him. The ranger returned the fire, but the men got away. No one was injured.

"They were on scout property and it just scares us that something, you know, could happen," Booth says.

The sheriff says his men searched the area for hours, but were unable to locate the two men or learn what they were doing on the property in the first place.

"There's a public landing down near the Boy Scout Camp. They could have been down at the public landing, walking in to fish, at this point, we don't know," says Booth.

Boy Scout Executive Director Larry Brown says at the time of the shooting, 39 staff members - age 14-78 - were in the dining hall. That's about three-quarters of a mile from where the shooting happened.

Brown says he spoke to Sheriff Booth by phone before making the decision to continue with Cub Scout camp, which opened Thursday night to two hundred campers and parents.

"We've had a couple calls from parents just wondering what's going on and we've informed them that we're open, we're on schedule," Brown says. "I've talked to Sheriff Booth and they're going to beef up patrols out here."

If you have any information that can help investigators, call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-559-TIPS or e-mail a tip to the Crimestoppers website.

All tips are kept confidential and you could receive a cash reward for information leading to an arrest.
 
Update: The Scoutmaster is also a Park Ranger and allowed to carry. Got an E-mail from my sons Scoutmaster last night filling me in on everything.
 
When I was in Scouts our Scout Master was Ranger Staff Sgt. I don't think we ever went camping when Sgt Ryan didn't have a 1911 either in his pack or on his hip. No one thought anything of it. It's just common sense to carry something when going ito the woods. We almost always encountered some sort of wildlife, some of which could be potentially dangerous.

Conventional wisdom: "When going unarmed into Paradise, it's wise to make damned sure that's where you are." Rural VA in the late 50's/early 60's was pretty nice, but it wasn't Paradise.:neener:
 
Wheew! For a minute there I thought we had a situation where the wrong kind of people did something good and right. Now we find out the good guy was the right kind of people to carry firearms. Sorta makes me wonder what would have happened if the good guy was not one of the right kind of people.

Mary Jane
Meth
Moonshine--and yes moonshine is still lovingly decanted in the backwoods of the south.

All are possible.
 
I have 3 boys under the age of 3......I plan on being thier Scout Master......I am going to have a serious problem with the no gun thing. Dont ask dont tell works for President Bill Clinton......

This guy does live by the motto.....it saved lives.....the BSA need to get a clue on thier policies.
 
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