Eric of IN
New member
Officials defend school's gun course
By JENNIFER DEL VECHIO
Daily Journal staff writer
Jan. 14, 2000
Teacher Steve Wheatley wanted to help kids learn about gun safety by assembling a type of firearm used in early American history.
But the Indiana Department of Education says a muzzleloading class at Franklin Community High School violates a state law.
The state will not approve the course again for credit, spokesman Stu Huffman said.
Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner lambasted the department’s stance, and school administrators and students are also baffled by the state’s decision.
“If the Department of Education would spend more time being involved in improving education than agonizing over minutiae, our schools could keep doing a good job of educating our students — and law enforcement could go back to the job of protecting the public,” Hamner said. “They are bureaucrats acting like bureaucrats. They forget that common sense has to factor in sometimes.”
Since 1995, Wheatley, a science teacher, has taught students how to build a muzzleloader — a gun used in the nation’s pioneer days, before the Civil War.
A shooting enthusiast himself, Wheatley has been teaching gun safety for years.
The seven-day class is part of Franklin’s winter intensive program, which is designed to offer students subjects not included in the regular curriculum.
For five days, 32 students learned about gun safety, American history and the responsibility of owning a gun.
Students made the guns from kits that did not include the “nipple,” a mechanism needed to make the guns operable.
Only after receiving 100 percent on a test about gun safety were the students allowed to take their muzzleloaders to the shooting range at the Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area near Edinburgh.
The gun fires one shot at a time, and it takes about three minutes to reload after it is fired.
Wheatley said he offered the class to help students be more responsible firearms users.
“We have people in this community who like to shoot and hunt,” Wheatley said. “I thought, ‘Why not make sure everyone is doing it in the proper manner?’
“Whether you like it or not, guns are a part of our culture, and I’d rather have our children learn the proper way to handle them and the consequences of not handling them correctly.”
But Huffman said a state law prohibits the possession of any firearm on school property or school buses.
“It’s the decision of the prosecutor whether to prosecute, but there’s no question that it violates the law,” Huffman said.
The state Department of Educ-ation has not contacted the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office directly. But Hamner said that in his legal opinion, the high school class is not illegal.
“The objective of the law is to keep people from having dangerous firearms in school,” Hamner said. “This does not even come close to violating either the spirit or the letter of the law.”
An unforeseen issue
The muzzleloading class at Franklin Community High School has been in the news before.
Several muzzleloading-enthusiast magazines had highlighted the class in a positive way, and Wheatley thought the class might interest the Indianapolis television media.
He called WRTV-Channel 6, which led to a segment questioning the role of the class. Wheatley perceived the story as critical of the course, and he was disappointed.
He doesn’t understand why teaching students responsibility was portrayed in a negative way.
School board member Diane Black doesn’t understand the controversy either.
“This is a class that teaches a lot of skills,” Black said. “It’s supervised, and kids and parents know ahead of time. It’s not like a kid bringing in a gun without us knowing about it.”
Students are just as perplexed.
Justin Smith, a senior, has taken Wheatley’s class. He said others shouldn’t judge the class unless they have taken it.
“This is a great class that gives us an opportunity to learn about guns, so that no one gets hurt,” Smith said.
Sophomore Jamie Higginbothan also took the course, which taught him safety, he said.
“This class teaches you respect for the gun and all the other values that go along with it,” Higginbothan said. “I think if everyone took this class, they would never think of bringing a gun to school.”
One lesson students learn is that guns should not be shown off to friends or used to hurt others, he said.
It is doubtful, however, that students will ever get to assemble the guns for class credit again.
The school corporation must submit a listing of all its classes to the Indiana Department of Education for approval.
In 1997, the class was approved for three years, but Huffman said “it’s safe to say it won’t be approved again” as a class students could take for credit.
Huffman said the department considers the class “a bad idea.” He did not elaborate on the department’s position, but he provided a copy of the applicable state statute.
The department’s lead counsel was out of town and unavailable for comment.
Class to continue
Principal Walt Vanderbush said he doesn’t plan to discontinue the class, and Hamner is not pressing the issue.
“I’m satisfied that the instructor is responsible, knowledgeable and knows a lot more than the bureaucrats at the Department of Education,” Hamner said. “What we have at Franklin high school is good kids learning, and that’s an objective that the Department of Education should get behind, instead of interfering with it.”
Franklin schools Superintendent Jim Halik took the class himself several years ago to make sure it was only beneficial for students.
“I learned more in that class than I ever did in another (gun-safety class),” Halik said. “I’m comfortable with the class and support it.”
Teaching gun safety to students is important, said Capt. Terry Hyndman, an Indiana conservation officer with the state Department of Natural Resources.
He applauded the five days of gun safety students receive, adding that conservation officers often go into schools to teach gun safety.
Students in Wheatley’s class take more safety lessons than are required to buy a rifle in Indiana. A person can walk into the nearest Wal-Mart and buy a rifle and not have to show any permit or proof they have taken a gun-safety class, Hyndman said.
John Miller, executive vice-president of the National Muzzleloading Association in Friendship, said more classes are needed in schools about gun safety.
“I see this as a function of the school system rather than a direct violation of safety rules and regulations,” Miller said. “Many schools have abandoned firearm safety, but it’s important to learn how to handle one safely.”
---------------------------------------------
Even a Pro- editorial...
Muzzleloading class no threat
By DAILY JOURNAL EDITORIAL
Tragedies such as the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado have raised concerns about student violence to an unprecedented level.
While many of these concerns are appropriate, taken to an extreme they can lead to hysteria.
Take the Indiana Department of Education’s reaction this week to a report about a special class at Franklin Community High School where students build and learn to shoot muzzle-loading rifles.
A lawyer for the Department of Education said the class was illegal and should be shut down. He cited a 1995 law prohibiting firearms on school property.
Thankfully, the state has no power to shut down the class, which has been taught since 1995 during the special January sessions by Steve Wheatley.
Franklin schools leaders and Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said they support the class and don’t believe it is illegal.
We agree.
Thirty-two students signed up for the class this month. They spent five days constructing the muzzleloaders and two days firing them at a local shooting range. In the process, they learned about firearm safety and about the history of muzzleloaders.
Far from posing a threat, this class represents an excellent educational opportunity for students. Instead of playing on fears, it provides students knowledge and perspective.
We commend Franklin school leaders and Hamner for their common-sense response. And we hope Wheatley continues teaching his class.
Our educational system should not allow unwarranted fears to tear down quality programs.
---------------------------------------------
I think the class should be required, maybe the kids would learn that guns aren't evil.
------------------
Formerly Puddle Pirate.
Teach a kid to shoot.
It annoys the antis.
By JENNIFER DEL VECHIO
Daily Journal staff writer
Jan. 14, 2000
Teacher Steve Wheatley wanted to help kids learn about gun safety by assembling a type of firearm used in early American history.
But the Indiana Department of Education says a muzzleloading class at Franklin Community High School violates a state law.
The state will not approve the course again for credit, spokesman Stu Huffman said.
Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner lambasted the department’s stance, and school administrators and students are also baffled by the state’s decision.
“If the Department of Education would spend more time being involved in improving education than agonizing over minutiae, our schools could keep doing a good job of educating our students — and law enforcement could go back to the job of protecting the public,” Hamner said. “They are bureaucrats acting like bureaucrats. They forget that common sense has to factor in sometimes.”
Since 1995, Wheatley, a science teacher, has taught students how to build a muzzleloader — a gun used in the nation’s pioneer days, before the Civil War.
A shooting enthusiast himself, Wheatley has been teaching gun safety for years.
The seven-day class is part of Franklin’s winter intensive program, which is designed to offer students subjects not included in the regular curriculum.
For five days, 32 students learned about gun safety, American history and the responsibility of owning a gun.
Students made the guns from kits that did not include the “nipple,” a mechanism needed to make the guns operable.
Only after receiving 100 percent on a test about gun safety were the students allowed to take their muzzleloaders to the shooting range at the Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area near Edinburgh.
The gun fires one shot at a time, and it takes about three minutes to reload after it is fired.
Wheatley said he offered the class to help students be more responsible firearms users.
“We have people in this community who like to shoot and hunt,” Wheatley said. “I thought, ‘Why not make sure everyone is doing it in the proper manner?’
“Whether you like it or not, guns are a part of our culture, and I’d rather have our children learn the proper way to handle them and the consequences of not handling them correctly.”
But Huffman said a state law prohibits the possession of any firearm on school property or school buses.
“It’s the decision of the prosecutor whether to prosecute, but there’s no question that it violates the law,” Huffman said.
The state Department of Educ-ation has not contacted the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office directly. But Hamner said that in his legal opinion, the high school class is not illegal.
“The objective of the law is to keep people from having dangerous firearms in school,” Hamner said. “This does not even come close to violating either the spirit or the letter of the law.”
An unforeseen issue
The muzzleloading class at Franklin Community High School has been in the news before.
Several muzzleloading-enthusiast magazines had highlighted the class in a positive way, and Wheatley thought the class might interest the Indianapolis television media.
He called WRTV-Channel 6, which led to a segment questioning the role of the class. Wheatley perceived the story as critical of the course, and he was disappointed.
He doesn’t understand why teaching students responsibility was portrayed in a negative way.
School board member Diane Black doesn’t understand the controversy either.
“This is a class that teaches a lot of skills,” Black said. “It’s supervised, and kids and parents know ahead of time. It’s not like a kid bringing in a gun without us knowing about it.”
Students are just as perplexed.
Justin Smith, a senior, has taken Wheatley’s class. He said others shouldn’t judge the class unless they have taken it.
“This is a great class that gives us an opportunity to learn about guns, so that no one gets hurt,” Smith said.
Sophomore Jamie Higginbothan also took the course, which taught him safety, he said.
“This class teaches you respect for the gun and all the other values that go along with it,” Higginbothan said. “I think if everyone took this class, they would never think of bringing a gun to school.”
One lesson students learn is that guns should not be shown off to friends or used to hurt others, he said.
It is doubtful, however, that students will ever get to assemble the guns for class credit again.
The school corporation must submit a listing of all its classes to the Indiana Department of Education for approval.
In 1997, the class was approved for three years, but Huffman said “it’s safe to say it won’t be approved again” as a class students could take for credit.
Huffman said the department considers the class “a bad idea.” He did not elaborate on the department’s position, but he provided a copy of the applicable state statute.
The department’s lead counsel was out of town and unavailable for comment.
Class to continue
Principal Walt Vanderbush said he doesn’t plan to discontinue the class, and Hamner is not pressing the issue.
“I’m satisfied that the instructor is responsible, knowledgeable and knows a lot more than the bureaucrats at the Department of Education,” Hamner said. “What we have at Franklin high school is good kids learning, and that’s an objective that the Department of Education should get behind, instead of interfering with it.”
Franklin schools Superintendent Jim Halik took the class himself several years ago to make sure it was only beneficial for students.
“I learned more in that class than I ever did in another (gun-safety class),” Halik said. “I’m comfortable with the class and support it.”
Teaching gun safety to students is important, said Capt. Terry Hyndman, an Indiana conservation officer with the state Department of Natural Resources.
He applauded the five days of gun safety students receive, adding that conservation officers often go into schools to teach gun safety.
Students in Wheatley’s class take more safety lessons than are required to buy a rifle in Indiana. A person can walk into the nearest Wal-Mart and buy a rifle and not have to show any permit or proof they have taken a gun-safety class, Hyndman said.
John Miller, executive vice-president of the National Muzzleloading Association in Friendship, said more classes are needed in schools about gun safety.
“I see this as a function of the school system rather than a direct violation of safety rules and regulations,” Miller said. “Many schools have abandoned firearm safety, but it’s important to learn how to handle one safely.”
---------------------------------------------
Even a Pro- editorial...
Muzzleloading class no threat
By DAILY JOURNAL EDITORIAL
Tragedies such as the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado have raised concerns about student violence to an unprecedented level.
While many of these concerns are appropriate, taken to an extreme they can lead to hysteria.
Take the Indiana Department of Education’s reaction this week to a report about a special class at Franklin Community High School where students build and learn to shoot muzzle-loading rifles.
A lawyer for the Department of Education said the class was illegal and should be shut down. He cited a 1995 law prohibiting firearms on school property.
Thankfully, the state has no power to shut down the class, which has been taught since 1995 during the special January sessions by Steve Wheatley.
Franklin schools leaders and Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said they support the class and don’t believe it is illegal.
We agree.
Thirty-two students signed up for the class this month. They spent five days constructing the muzzleloaders and two days firing them at a local shooting range. In the process, they learned about firearm safety and about the history of muzzleloaders.
Far from posing a threat, this class represents an excellent educational opportunity for students. Instead of playing on fears, it provides students knowledge and perspective.
We commend Franklin school leaders and Hamner for their common-sense response. And we hope Wheatley continues teaching his class.
Our educational system should not allow unwarranted fears to tear down quality programs.
---------------------------------------------
I think the class should be required, maybe the kids would learn that guns aren't evil.
------------------
Formerly Puddle Pirate.
Teach a kid to shoot.
It annoys the antis.