When guns and schools were pals

Journal Times ^ | Mike Moore

[Tijeras_Slim]

I wish I had kept the jacket I had all my patches, including Distinguished Expert, sewn on! :(

[SauronOfMordor]

My old Catholic high school had a basement range. In the 70's.

In the middle of Manhatten

[Trteamer]

When in high school during the early 70's, my 12 guage was always in my trucks gun rack during duck season. No one gave it a second look. The ducks paid big time.

Now I would be arrested. I'm really glad I grew up when common sense prevailed.

[kerosene]

In the Spring of 1982, while in high school in North Las Vegas, Nevada, my Air Force Junior ROTC instructor, a retired Senior Master Sergeant, told my class that each of us would have to teach a fellow classmate a procedure, of our choosing, in a step-by-step manner, in front of the class, then the student would have to perform the procedure with minimal assistance. After class, I asked the instructor if I could teach a classmate how to break down and reassemble a shotgun.

"Sure. Bring the shotgun to my office at the beginning of the day, unloaded and broken down. Assemble it for the class, then teach your lesson. At the end of the day, stop by and get your shotgun. What kind is it?"

"Mossberg 600."

"I have an Ithaca 37."

We didn't get permission, we didn't feel guilty, nor did we feel a need to notify anyone, including the principal. We just did it, and my classmates thought it was very cool.

One humorous note: My student (i.e. plant) was an experienced hunter, well-acquainted with shotguns, so the lesson went perfectly and I earned an A. :-)

[Charles Martel]

My high school had a NJROTC program and one of the offices assigned to the RTOC instructors was used as an armory for the rifle team. In fact, the room had U.S. Navy insignia on the door, and the word ARMORY painted in military stencil.

Not only did we lock our personal firearms in there during the day, there was a supply of Winchester 52D and Mossberg M44 target rifles (surplus training rifles from DCM / US Army inventory). Those Winchesters were *sweet*.

There was no range on the grounds, but the local Navy Reserve Center had a 50-foot indoor range, and it was nearby. Nowadays, the .22s are all gone and the old Navy Reserve Center is closed. There's still a rifle team, but they now compete with airguns. Surprisingly, they now use a portable backstop and utilize the school's cafeteria area for practice. Better than nothing, I suppose.

The days when a box of .22 ammo sitting on a student's desk didn't result in the S.W.A.T. team being called are certainly gone.

[weezel]

In the '60s, while in grade school, my brother won one of those candy selling contests. He had a choice of prizes, one being a 22 rifle, which he chose, and brought home on the school bus.

[weezel]

In the '60s, while in grade school, my brother won one of those candy selling contests. He had a choice of prizes, one being a 22 rifle, which he chose, and brought home on the school bus.

[Thunder90]

The High schools there also want to drop JROTC because the high schools have "Concerns" (Leftist reasoning) about it.

[Myrddin]

I think we need to return to mandatory hunter safety training in the schools. That would decrease firearm accidents. The current trend of school staff to pee their pants at the mention of a firearm is ridiculous.

I would favor an indoor range that was available as a shared resource for public school students to do their shooting proficiency skills, then open as a "for profit" public range on evenings and weekends. Trying to maintain a good range on each school campus is an expensive chore. I don't think it could maintain a viable level of utilization from paying customers to keep it as a self supporting resource.

[Charles Martel]

In the '60s, while in grade school, my brother won one of those candy selling contests. He had a choice of prizes, one being a 22 rifle, which he chose, and brought home on the school bus.

You reminded me... before I bought my first car (Junior year), there were quite a few occasions when I rode the public bus home after a match. Nobody seemed to care about the presence of my target rifle, which was unmistakable in its hard case plastered with NRA bumper stickers.

[rock58seg]

We carried 22.s to and from grade school so we could hunt coming and going to school. Stacked (leaned) them in a rear corner during the school day.

[Dead Corpse]

While I agree that todays America isn't all it should be, why can't we get it back? Are we too civilized? Have we been completely disarmed and run out of options? Should we all just roll over and die?

One person in the right place at the right time can make all the difference. Who knows, maybe YOU are that person. Maybe I am.

We'll never know if we never TRY.

[absolootezer0]

you didn't goto schoo in mid-michigan did you? i had a teacher that did the same thing. when he taught revolutionary and civil war periods in history, he'd come in with a couple different outifts, and different weapons. he'd even managed to get permission for some of us to load and shoot them outside on one occasion.
and what's surprising is, i had him in the mid90s.