Knimrod
01-04-2006, 01:57 PM
Gun club teaches children
January 3, 2006http://www.billingsgazette.com/rednews/2006/01/03/stories/wyoming/images/guns.jpg
Associated Press
CHEYENNE - Don't let the long blond ponytail and the sweet smile fool you: Jodi Ross is a demon with a target rifle.
On a recent chilly evening, the 11-year-old joined more than a dozen other kids at the Cheyenne Rifle and Pistol Club's indoor range in south Cheyenne for her weekly target practice.
Ross is one of 35 kids in the club's Juniors shooting program this winter. It is designed to expose kids to the fun and excitement of target shooting in a safe and educational environment.
The young shooters range in age from 10 to 18 and in skill level from beginner to advanced.
"It's something that has always intrigued her," said Jim Ross, Jodi's grandfather.
He sits behind her as she fires at targets 50 feet away at the end of the range. Like many other family members here tonight, Jim watches the bull's-eyes through binoculars. He says Jodi is a natural.
"She started shooting when she was 5 or 6 with her dad, and she's loved it since the day she started," Jim said.
In the Ross family, shooting and hunting are a family tradition
"My mother, LouElla Ross, was a really good shot," he said proudly, looking at his granddaughter. "She's 91 now."
Jodi said she looks forward to hunting with her family, but not all the kids come to the program to get ready to hunt.
Bill Vernon, coordinator, said many parents just want their kids to lose their fear of guns and to gain respect for the potentially deadly weapons.
"We've had several single mothers come in and say, 'I'm scared of guns and I don't have any way to teach my kids about them,' " Vernon says.
Target shooting takes away the mystique of the firearm, club member Joe Vogler said.
"If we create some good shooters, fine," Vogler said, but he adds that's not the club's goal.
Adds Vernon, "I wish we could start them in first grade because even if they never own a gun, we've taught them safety, and that's what it's all about."
Not long after arriving at the range at 6 p.m., Jodi Ross quietly gets ready to shoot. She lays her gun down on the brown carpet, barrel facing down range, and pulls on a shooting jacket with a leather shoulder pad.
Her grandfather helps her buckle a leather support that holds the gun steady, and she slips on her safety glasses and dons a pair of squishy earplugs.
Nearby, Shannon Fitzmorris, 10, peers through a scope to inspect his targets. The earnest first-year shooter read about the program in the paper and asked his parents if he could join.
"I really like the shooting part and the scoring," he said. "I really want to get better."
Other kids get themselves ready with no guidance from the adults who mill around, ready to help if needed.
For a $25 fee, the club provides the Juniors with .22 target rifles, ammunition, shooting coats, gloves and coaching. The kids bring their own ear and eye protection, and some have their own guns.
"Ideally we would like to have a gun issued to each kid," club member Vern Rulli says.
Some of the rifle stocks have been cut down to fit the smallest shooters.
At 6:30 p.m. sharp, Vernon inspects the line and goes over the rules: Aim your rifle down range at all times. Keep your finger off the trigger. If you have a problem, raise your hand.
Seeing all the kids properly equipped and ready, he gives the OK to start shooting. Each child will shoot 50 rounds.
As the beginners lie prone, other more advanced shooters aim from sitting and kneeling positions. The Juniors program works on a system of levels that the kids progress through.
Beginners start at level one and can go all the way up to level eight, which is Olympic caliber. Levels five through eight are considered "international level," and the program has seven or eight kids shooting at that level, Vernon said.
Anthony Brausch, 15, has been shooting at the club for four years. The ninth-grader said his goal is to finish level seven and go on to shoot for a college team.
Currently he shoots at level six. To rise to the next level, he will have to place one shot in each of 10 bulls-eyes with no mistakes.
As he rose through the program's ranks, "the targets got smaller and smaller," he said.
Anthony's dad, Jim, said the safety lessons his kids have learned from the program are invaluable.
"They know that a gun is something that can hurt them," he said. "I started teaching them when they were 5 or 6 how to know if a gun is safe or not if they find it laying on the floor."
Although the Juniors program can accommodate 56 kids, at present only 35 are taking part.
The Juniors program is competitive, but the kids really only compete against themselves, Vernon adds.
"At the end of the night we tally the scores and they know how many points they got and what they need to shoot next week," he said.
For some kids, that's enough to see a marked improvement in their behavior and performance in school.
Dawn Guffey said her son, Shea, 13, struggled with his grades after moving here from Indiana. But he gained a new sense of accomplishment when he started shooting at the club, she adds.
"He really found something he's passionate about," she said. "Having an active evening thing that he looks forward to gets him motivated to get his homework done. And shooting is an accuracy thing, and there's a lot of math involved."
Mike Calvetti, father of Michaela, 10, and Cassidy, 14, said getting his daughters involved in shooting has brought the family closer together.
"I was around (shooting) forever, and I wanted my kids to be around it, too," he said.
Although many of the kids come into the program with previous shooting experience, Vernon says the newcomers are the easiest to teach.
"The girls are sometimes better shots," he adds. "Lots of the boys go out and shoot with their dads and don't learn trigger control."
Vernon and the other club members who work with the kids have fun themselves.
"We get a lot of personal enjoyment out of it," he said. "These are good kids, every one of them."
Link to story (http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2006/01/03/build/wyoming/50-gun-club.inc)
January 3, 2006http://www.billingsgazette.com/rednews/2006/01/03/stories/wyoming/images/guns.jpg
Associated Press
CHEYENNE - Don't let the long blond ponytail and the sweet smile fool you: Jodi Ross is a demon with a target rifle.
On a recent chilly evening, the 11-year-old joined more than a dozen other kids at the Cheyenne Rifle and Pistol Club's indoor range in south Cheyenne for her weekly target practice.
Ross is one of 35 kids in the club's Juniors shooting program this winter. It is designed to expose kids to the fun and excitement of target shooting in a safe and educational environment.
The young shooters range in age from 10 to 18 and in skill level from beginner to advanced.
"It's something that has always intrigued her," said Jim Ross, Jodi's grandfather.
He sits behind her as she fires at targets 50 feet away at the end of the range. Like many other family members here tonight, Jim watches the bull's-eyes through binoculars. He says Jodi is a natural.
"She started shooting when she was 5 or 6 with her dad, and she's loved it since the day she started," Jim said.
In the Ross family, shooting and hunting are a family tradition
"My mother, LouElla Ross, was a really good shot," he said proudly, looking at his granddaughter. "She's 91 now."
Jodi said she looks forward to hunting with her family, but not all the kids come to the program to get ready to hunt.
Bill Vernon, coordinator, said many parents just want their kids to lose their fear of guns and to gain respect for the potentially deadly weapons.
"We've had several single mothers come in and say, 'I'm scared of guns and I don't have any way to teach my kids about them,' " Vernon says.
Target shooting takes away the mystique of the firearm, club member Joe Vogler said.
"If we create some good shooters, fine," Vogler said, but he adds that's not the club's goal.
Adds Vernon, "I wish we could start them in first grade because even if they never own a gun, we've taught them safety, and that's what it's all about."
Not long after arriving at the range at 6 p.m., Jodi Ross quietly gets ready to shoot. She lays her gun down on the brown carpet, barrel facing down range, and pulls on a shooting jacket with a leather shoulder pad.
Her grandfather helps her buckle a leather support that holds the gun steady, and she slips on her safety glasses and dons a pair of squishy earplugs.
Nearby, Shannon Fitzmorris, 10, peers through a scope to inspect his targets. The earnest first-year shooter read about the program in the paper and asked his parents if he could join.
"I really like the shooting part and the scoring," he said. "I really want to get better."
Other kids get themselves ready with no guidance from the adults who mill around, ready to help if needed.
For a $25 fee, the club provides the Juniors with .22 target rifles, ammunition, shooting coats, gloves and coaching. The kids bring their own ear and eye protection, and some have their own guns.
"Ideally we would like to have a gun issued to each kid," club member Vern Rulli says.
Some of the rifle stocks have been cut down to fit the smallest shooters.
At 6:30 p.m. sharp, Vernon inspects the line and goes over the rules: Aim your rifle down range at all times. Keep your finger off the trigger. If you have a problem, raise your hand.
Seeing all the kids properly equipped and ready, he gives the OK to start shooting. Each child will shoot 50 rounds.
As the beginners lie prone, other more advanced shooters aim from sitting and kneeling positions. The Juniors program works on a system of levels that the kids progress through.
Beginners start at level one and can go all the way up to level eight, which is Olympic caliber. Levels five through eight are considered "international level," and the program has seven or eight kids shooting at that level, Vernon said.
Anthony Brausch, 15, has been shooting at the club for four years. The ninth-grader said his goal is to finish level seven and go on to shoot for a college team.
Currently he shoots at level six. To rise to the next level, he will have to place one shot in each of 10 bulls-eyes with no mistakes.
As he rose through the program's ranks, "the targets got smaller and smaller," he said.
Anthony's dad, Jim, said the safety lessons his kids have learned from the program are invaluable.
"They know that a gun is something that can hurt them," he said. "I started teaching them when they were 5 or 6 how to know if a gun is safe or not if they find it laying on the floor."
Although the Juniors program can accommodate 56 kids, at present only 35 are taking part.
The Juniors program is competitive, but the kids really only compete against themselves, Vernon adds.
"At the end of the night we tally the scores and they know how many points they got and what they need to shoot next week," he said.
For some kids, that's enough to see a marked improvement in their behavior and performance in school.
Dawn Guffey said her son, Shea, 13, struggled with his grades after moving here from Indiana. But he gained a new sense of accomplishment when he started shooting at the club, she adds.
"He really found something he's passionate about," she said. "Having an active evening thing that he looks forward to gets him motivated to get his homework done. And shooting is an accuracy thing, and there's a lot of math involved."
Mike Calvetti, father of Michaela, 10, and Cassidy, 14, said getting his daughters involved in shooting has brought the family closer together.
"I was around (shooting) forever, and I wanted my kids to be around it, too," he said.
Although many of the kids come into the program with previous shooting experience, Vernon says the newcomers are the easiest to teach.
"The girls are sometimes better shots," he adds. "Lots of the boys go out and shoot with their dads and don't learn trigger control."
Vernon and the other club members who work with the kids have fun themselves.
"We get a lot of personal enjoyment out of it," he said. "These are good kids, every one of them."
Link to story (http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2006/01/03/build/wyoming/50-gun-club.inc)