Video: South Carolina High School Opens On-campus Shooting Range
OutdoorHub Social 04.25.16
You often hear about debates whether or not teachers or other school staff should be armed, but you probably have not heard of a gun range being built on school property.
That’s exactly what Smithfield-Selma High School in North Carolina did. The school converted an old greenhouse on campus into what might be the only high school shooting shooting range at a nonmilitary school. The $10,000 Funds for the project came almost entirely from The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
For now the shooting range is reserved for members of the Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program. It allows them to practice marksmanship skill without even leaving campus. The students will train with air rifles, but before they even pick one up they will go through extensive training.
According to Commander David Wegman, the man responsible for the program, “There’s a marksmanship safety test they have to take, and they have to get a 100 on it. In addition to that, they have to sign a safety pledge, get permission from home and then finally demonstrate on the range that they know how to handle one of these air rifles safely.”
So far only 4 students are qualified to use the range, but that number should grow quickly.
