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Knimrod
05-04-2006, 08:47 PM
Armed action: Girl Scouts take up shotguns after gun safety class
May 04, 2006
David V. Graham
The Flint Journal

FLUSHING TWP. - Haylie Lane, a 14-year-old Girl Scout from Oxford, had never fired a shotgun before, but she hit 18 out of 25 clay pigeons during her first round of sporting clays here Saturday.

Haylie, a member of Troop 364, was participating in an unusual local Girl Scout program that teaches girls about firearms safety and shotgun shooting at the Genesee Sportsmen's Club.

"I've shot a BB gun and a handgun before, but not a shotgun," Haylie said. "This is fun."

The program was developed by two local Scout leaders, Kathy Smith and Jeanette Boucher, after they heard about a Boy Scout shooting program at the club.

Smith said this is an opportunity for girls who have never shot before to learn about firearms safety and a new sport.

"A lot of parents are often afraid of guns and that gets passed on to their children," she said. "This is an opportunity to learn something that will reduce their fear of guns."

Twenty-nine Girl Scouts from Genesee, Lapeer and Oakland counties of the Fair Winds Council area of mid-Michigan participated in the program. Several of the dozen parents on hand also shot a few rounds, and some quickly discovered it wasn't as easy as they had imagined.

Todd Lanxton of Flushing said he used to hunt with his father when he was young, but he hasn't been around guns since.

"I think this is a great experience," Lanxton said. "They (club members) gave a great safety course before we went out. I have no problem with my daughter shooting here because I would rather have her learn to shoot the safe way rather than not know anything about guns at all."

The girls seemed to enjoy it, too.

Emily Lanxton, 12, said she didn't hit any clay pigeons during her first round of 25, but she enjoyed it anyway.

"This was something I've never done before," she said. "I'd like to do it again - it was exciting."

Sydney Salem, 11, of Flushing said she hit two targets during her first round Saturday. She said she enjoyed the experience, even though the kick from the gun left her with a sore shoulder.

"I'd like to do it again," Sydney said. "My family shoots clay pigeons up north, and I'd like to do it some more."

Kristine Kostyla, 15, of Flint, said she hit seven out of her first 25 targets.

"This is really cool and interesting," she said. "I like trying to hit them in the air; it is really challenging."

Scout leader Boucher said girls interested in learning about shotgun safety pay $2 for the program and have a chance to earn a Girl Scout merit badge. The "Shooting in the Right Direction" program is now in is fourth year, and about one-third of the girls were returnees from previous years.

One is Teala "T.J," Hudzinski, 18, of Mundy Township, who was returning for her third time. She is a junior at Swartz Creek High School.

"I like it," she said, referring to the program. "I get to handle a shotgun. ... I like the power of it and hitting a small target in the air."

Hudzinski said the program has given her the skills to get ready for taking a hunter safety class so she can join her family members for a deer hunt in the fall at her grandfather's farm near Yale.

"I've never gone before, but I want to go now," she said. "I will be hunting this fall."

Al Basner of Flushing was one of a half-dozen club members who volunteered to spend last Saturday teaching the girls and their parents about shotgun shooting and firearms safety.

Basner, a U.S. Army Gulf War veteran, is a small arms specialist, and he ran the half-hour firearms safety course before the girls took to the field.

"Too many people stigmatize guns as being far more dangerous than they really are, especially if they are in the right hands," he said. "I want people to realize what a good, clean sport target shooting can be. This (target shooting) is something the entire family can do together for fun."

Club President George "J.R." Gilliam said the Scout shooting program costs about $3,000 a year to stage. It offers spring and fall sessions.

Half the costs are covered by the club, he said, and the other half by a grant from the National Rifle Association. Gilliam said he donates about $800 worth of shotgun himself for the program.

"I'm doing this for the future of our sport," he said. "About 30 percent of these kids return here to shoot regularly with their parents."


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Link to story (http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/114675241756450.xml?fljournal?SPOD&coll=5)