From today's C-Springs Gazette:
NRA grant gives Ramah kids a supervised shooting range
Taking away mystique of firearms will bring about safety, official says
By Allison Sherry/The Gazette
RAMAH - Ten- to 18-year-olds may soon have a place to legally practice their aim in Ramah because of a $3,000 grant from the National Rifle Association foundation to erect an all-weather shooting facility for youth.
The facility, expected to be done by the end of summer, will cost about $9,000 and be funded largely through dues from the Ben Lomond Gun Club.
"Youngsters can learn a lot of things the wrong way," said Dave Lee, National Rifle Association state field representative. "If you take away the mystique, it's safer for them."
Youngsters will have to come to the facility with an organized group such as the Boy Scouts or 4-H, and everything, including guns and ammunition, will be free, said William Bates, treasurer of the Ben Lomond Gun Club. Participants will practice marksmanship and gun safety with single-shot .22-caliber rifles and .177 pellet guns.
"All the kids will be supervised by certified instructors, and we're going to ask that parents come around to it," Bates said.
Lee said the NRA and its youth safety programs have been vilified by gun activists and people should focus more on safety. "The anti's of the world want to ban this and ban that; they never talk about safety," he said.
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"We are going to fight. We are going to be hurt.
But in the end, we will stand."
--Roland Deschain
NRA grant gives Ramah kids a supervised shooting range
Taking away mystique of firearms will bring about safety, official says
By Allison Sherry/The Gazette
RAMAH - Ten- to 18-year-olds may soon have a place to legally practice their aim in Ramah because of a $3,000 grant from the National Rifle Association foundation to erect an all-weather shooting facility for youth.
The facility, expected to be done by the end of summer, will cost about $9,000 and be funded largely through dues from the Ben Lomond Gun Club.
"Youngsters can learn a lot of things the wrong way," said Dave Lee, National Rifle Association state field representative. "If you take away the mystique, it's safer for them."
Youngsters will have to come to the facility with an organized group such as the Boy Scouts or 4-H, and everything, including guns and ammunition, will be free, said William Bates, treasurer of the Ben Lomond Gun Club. Participants will practice marksmanship and gun safety with single-shot .22-caliber rifles and .177 pellet guns.
"All the kids will be supervised by certified instructors, and we're going to ask that parents come around to it," Bates said.
Lee said the NRA and its youth safety programs have been vilified by gun activists and people should focus more on safety. "The anti's of the world want to ban this and ban that; they never talk about safety," he said.
------------------
"We are going to fight. We are going to be hurt.
But in the end, we will stand."
--Roland Deschain