“When the all new North Atlanta High School opens its doors Wednesday, students will have sparkling new facilities including an indoor rifle range,” wsbtv.com reports. “The range was built for the school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp and the rifle team.” Before you get all “winning!” here’s the kicker: “While the term ‘rifle’ is used, the range actually supports compressed-air powered pellet rifles.They said the schools have taken steps to equip rifle team members with the latest safety gear.” Is that enough to assuage nervous parents? Well . . . “If I see a kid walking around school with a weapon locked and loaded I would have concern, but I think they’re going to be locked in a lock and safe,” proclaimed parent Cappy McAlpin. ‘Cause gun safety depends on secure locks. Except when it doesn’t. Anyway, baby steps people. Baby steps.
Air rifles are still rifles, we have an olympic team for that afterall.
Of course, the rifles the olympic team uses (both air and powder) generally have those ‘pistol grip’ thingies, which ONLY have military uses… or so some people say…
Better than nothing, I guess.
Sweet! They did it for the children.
We had this at my high school also; the JROTC rifle team is where I learned the fundamentals of good marksmanship. I found this style of shooting to be a relaxing break from the everyday during my teenage years and a good way for young adults to learn focus and patience.
Uh, this is news? Sound exactly like what we had a couple decades ago in my HSROTC program. We used pellet guns for general marksmanship; they were locked up on-site when no in use. It got the job done.
There was some kind of cool M16 platform trainer in the back of a trailer that showed up a couple times per year. It was a fake rifle with a ball-jointed piston at the muzzle to simulate recoil. Mini pop-up targets simulated person-sized engagements at distance, and the whole setup would tabulate a score for you. Kinda like the bastard offspring of Call of Duty and a pinball machine. 😉
Anyway, both of those were great as trainers. We didn’t need real firearms for marksmanship training, though I did get to fire a real M-16 from a foxhole on one of our class trips (weeklong Spring Break camp @ Ft. Huachuca. Ah, indoctrination of youth.
Wait, forgot the “ZOMG!!1! Training high school students to shoot at human-like targets and handing them working machine guns!!”
Beautiful Fort Huachuca, AZ. I spent 6 months there in the service, and enjoyed it.
I wouldn’t mind retiring to Sierra Vista.
Well back when I was in highschool and in ROTC we just had to take trips to the closest army base to shoot M16 rilfes, that is better than any air powered rifle I know of.
I did ROTC in college and we had an underground range. We had standard M-16s but we had conversion kits to fire .22lr at the range. Good Times.
10 meter air rifle is no joke. IMO, by far the best way to learn marksmanship. Running Target is even tougher:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_metre_running_target
I shot 10m air in high school, East Anchorage High. Never could seem to beat 291/300. Awesome sport.
We shot air rifles not for pc reasons, but because it was cheaper for the school to maintain the range. Less for the air scrubbers to clean.
Also- for those who are picturing daisy BB guns, the air rifles we used were FeinWerkBau Olympic style rifles. Cost about 2500 dollars and could keep ten rounds in the same hole at 10m.
I built schools in GA for a couple years. Schools in rural areas routinely have rifle ranges, no big deal. It IS a big deal that an Atlanta/Fulton County Public school has a rifle range as our local politicians are on board with the whole MAIG deal. This new school is like 2 miles from my office. It’s going to destroy surface street traffic in the mornings.
AHHHHH it’s the slippery slope in reverse!
This is a huge step in the right direction. Air to .22 to whatever. Not to mention with out some of these around we’ll have no stats to point to when saying it’s safe and it’s good.
Anything that restores guns to a place of respect and acceptability in the mainstream of America is a great thing.
Ten years ago, my rural high school allowed students to bring their own compound bows during the archery segment of P.E. The school provided the rest of the bows for people who didn’t bring them. I think they probably still allow them. My mother’s high school still has a range in its basement, though it’s unused since the Dems took over education. In the 70s when my Dad was in school, he brought his shotgun to shop class so he could make a new butt stock for his 870. He then used the same shotgun to fire blanks off in the school during an FFA “slave auction” fundraiser. 😉
Cool, all we got to do was play flag football.
Really, what’s the problem? My high school had an indoor rifle range for the JROTC rifle and pistol teams, I was in both. In fact that was 22yrs ago and the high school still has the range and it has been in uninterrupted use (except or upgrades from .22 to .223) to date. The Rifle and Pistol teams still compete up to the national level in tournaments. So, I don’t see what the big deal is, though why is it being made for air rifles? That being the case they could use the gym for that or even a school hallway.
People of my generation and those younger by the most part are whiny little spoiled brats, and know not what they have or are loosing from their in action. I served this country as my brother and father before me and I still am a firm believer that it should be mandatory for both men and women to do at the least 2 years military service after high school weather going on to college or not. Everyone would have a better idea of what it cost’s to have what freedoms we have and what it looks like, seen with their own eyes), what the lack or loss of freedoms does to it’s people…
Air rifles make sense from a cost perspective. Learn the basics of marksmenship without the outrageous cost of ammo. That sounds like a responsible solution to me. What do you think Mark Kelly?
His response would be – “I am against your kids doing this at their school. Excuse me while I take my kids to their school so they can shoot their guns (that I bought them) at their school.”
He only bought his kids those guns so they could turn them in to be destroyed.
Sounds like a high school I would have enjoyed going to.
A good friend of mine grew up in rural Illinois, and she was on her high school’s trap shooting team.
In San Diego, we would check out a rifle and a brick of .22’s, walk across campus to the parking lot, put them in the trunk and drive to the range. After practice, walk back across the campus with a dirty rifle and put them back into the cage. (our team captain, a senior, had the keys).
I made the team in my freshman year and lettered in small bore marksmanship.
Wish my kids could have done that.
Had to laugh at a couple of the hand wringers in the news report. Good grief.
“Cappy McAlpin” HAS to be a cartoon character, that’s a ridiculous name
“Cappy McAlpin” HAS to be a cartoon character, what a name.
Air rifles are a gateway gun. Those kids will move on to the harder stuff and get addicted like the rest of us.
Dealing with children and the lead levels that can build up in indoor ranges is no joke. As a parent, I’d probably prefer a school to be as lead-free as possible. Air rifles seem like a good compromise. I’ve got nothing against kids shooting, but would prefer outdoor ranges.
I just hope that they don’t knock somebody’s eye out.
Yeah, they got a compass in the stock and a thing that tells time?
Still, it’ll serve the kids well, and it pisses off the right sort of morons.
We had a rifle range for JROTC in my HS in Colorado. Garands shooting 22lr. And every spring we got to go to the Guard base and shoot real Garands, 1911s, and a 50. Glad some schools still have ranges.
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