School Shootings and Gun Safety

With the focus on the school shootings in recent years, many forget that competitive shooting sports are a part of many youth sports programs. These programs are a valuable way of teaching youth about gun safety and the responsibilities that go along with gun ownership and use. School shootings make up a tiny number of youth gun injuries, and should not influence the availability of competitive shooting sports programs for youth.

Indeed, much more common than injuries or fatalities due to school shootings are youth injured because they lack gun knowledge. Much more typical of a scenario for youth gun fatalities and injuries than school shootings is one in which a child finds a gun and plays around with it, shooting himself, a sibling or a visiting companion. The gun safety and responsibility training that is the fundamental part of any youth competitive sports shooting program goes a long way towards ensuring that a child finding a gun will not play with it or at the very least will not point it at another. A companion with gun knowledge knows that if another child brings out a gun, that it is time to leave and will not sit around waiting for an accident to happen.

It is unfortunate that school shootings have had a negative influence in some regions on the availability of competitive shooting programs for youth. These types of sports, which include such old time favorites as trap shooting and skeet shooting, have been a part of youth programs for literally hundreds of years. In the early 1900's, youth competitive shooting sports programs became popular throughout the United States, in schools and clubs, such as the Boy Scouts and the 4H Club. Today, there are more than a million American youth that participate in such competitive sporting events. That's more than a million youth that are less likely to be injured or killed in firearm mishaps.

The tragic school shooting events should not discourage parents and educators from allowing youth participation in competitive shooting sports programs. These types of programs, in addition to developing skills, increase knowledge. Knowledge, not ignorance, is the best protection against youth firearm injuries and fatalities.

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