Posted on 11/21/2005 8:41:31 PM PST by freepatriot32
Residents are up in arms over a push by the Education Department to open a school next door to a popular Bay Ridge shooting range. The school, proposed inside the recently shuttered Fortway Theater on Fort Hamilton Parkway, would bring about 440 students within earshot of the 40-year-old Alpine Arms shooting range - an FBI and NYPD favorite.
"We're trying to get children away from guns, not near them," said Donna Sbordone, a mother of three who lives three blocks from the 67th St. site. "It's just not a good place for a school."
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
My girlfriend was born and raised three blocks from there, on 67th and 10th. I've been in that place, it's pretty nice.
Kind of a shock, too, to see a firing range in Brooklyn, and especially to chat with all the shooters downstairs, they support the 2nd Amendment and are so conservative you'd think you're in Idaho, until you walk up the stairs and see all the Arabs walking around!
Ed
You're right -- Safety First.
Age 5 is fine. For starters, get hold of the NRA's Eddie Eagle gun safety program. This is an excellent introduction for kids who are going to be around guns, but are not yet ready to responsibly handle them.
We got the videotape when our daughter was about 7, when the household acquired a .22 rifle. But the Eddie Eagle program doesn't require that you have a gun around; it's good safety training in case your daughter encounters one anywhere. You've read the stories about kids under 8 accidentally shooting themselves or somebody else. There's just no need for that kind of tragedy.
Once she's got the basic idea that guns are something to respect, and you determine that she's developing a good sense of responsibility, a small firearm (like the BB gun lp boonie suggests, might indeed be appropriate). Let her level of interest guide you -- some kids take to firearms, others don't. Mainly, I believe she should be trained in safety first, then given the opportunity to find out what she thinks about shooting. My daughter knew generally about gun safety for a while before she actually fired a gun, and that worked out well.
If your daughter shows interest and sense of responsibility, I don't think 5 is too young. It happens my daughter (and I when I first shot) were up around 12, but I wouldn't necessarily wait that long, especially if she's going to be around guns in the interim.
Please note -- my FRiend MikeJ was invaluable as a teacher when my daughter became active, and so I've pinged him on this. He's got a lot of experience as a teacher, and I'd go by what he says.
I've got nothing to add - you've covered it very nicely.
Its better than what will probably be the fate of the Alpine on 5th and 69th. Half of that building is already a mosque, and I assume they will take over the other half once the theatre (which is a dump btw) is closed.
This range is a pretty cool place. Went there once. Prefer the place in Woodhaven that has more lanes.
--- Clemenza (former Bay Ridge resident - 93rd and 4th).
Ping!
Lawrence High School, a heavily Jewish school in a VERY liberal area, had a large rifle club until the late 60s. I'm willing to bet many of its former members joined JPFO.
(about 200 customers, including the FBI, NYPD and BOY SCOUTS, visit the underground range each month)
The more I know about the boy scouts the more I love them!
Yep, it's not like that DEA guy is packing his '.40' in there, or anything...
...and you put the condom over the muzzle to keep the rain out. Eat the d@amned pickle, don't waste food!
Last year I was sitting on a bus outside the Wailing Wall. About three hundred armed troops with large backpacks and rifles, with two clips each came out of the entrance. They all looked to be about 15 to 16 years old and they were all female. I was very impressed.
I would start her with an air pistol. Simple, not loud, with proper target setups it can be used indoors.
When did that happen?
My girlfriend worked at Aiello's Deli just around the corner from there. She went to St. Ephram's, then Bishop Kearney, then B'klyn College.
Her brother went to Xaverian, then also B'klyn Colloege.
Her parents still live in Bay Ridge, and her aunts live in Dyker Heights, and it's so sad, the neighborhoods that speak English are closing down to just a few blocks, everywhere else it's Muslims and Chinese.
See ya',
Ed
The white Catholics who lived in SW Brooklyn thought that their nabes would last "forevah", but the fact of the matter is people have been leaving those nabes for the past 25 years. They should have done more to attract yuppies like Park Slope and Carroll Gardens did rather than hoping that their kids would settle nearby.
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