Posted by mako on September 21, 2000 at 13:58:16:
I'm trying to get the fathers of two of our outstanding young shooters to tell us in writing why shooting is a good thing for their kids. Sandy Santibenez, father of Lauren, who came in second in Sports pistol at this years nationals and John Cassidy, whose daughter Christina was our air pistol Olympian.
I want them to give us good reasons why shooting was/is beneficial to their kids.
My own, soon to be ex-wife, won't even let me take my ten year old boy to the range! And of course he's gun crazy ... :-)
Armed with these "letters" perhaps we will have some/more success getting young people out to the range ....
Posted by Rudy on September 21, 2000 at 14:40:35:
1) It's fun.
2) Sports psychology is directly applicable to real life. The need for psychological sports training is especially acute in precision marksmanship.
3) Men especially are very much in danger of being detached from society because they tend not to have any friends outside of work. Shooting develops life-long friendships.
4) Because shooting is a game where even to do it badly requires near perfection of technique, the disciplines of self control and self determination are learned and dwelt upon. This also translates to other aspects of our lives.
5) Shooting is a recreational passion, much as golf is, and this gives it a restorative quality for the man needing an outlet away from the mundane to restore his soul and keep him feeling good about the world.
6) Competition yields personal excellence, and develops comaradarie.
7) Shooting is very democratic. One can be a bank president and carry on happy conversation with janitors, engineers, scientists, construction workers, etc. The demographic is unusually broad and it allows us to meet other people we ordinarily have no occasion to meet and understand.
8) Shooting is multidimensional in that one can devote himself to the mastery of a single gun, or he can be a gadget man and sample much equipment.
9) Compared to other games, especially golf, shooting is economical. Shooting costs about as much as bowling, but often less.
10) Your children will learn about weapons one way or another. They can learn from Arnold Schwartzenegger, Dan Rather, and the Columbine killers, or they can learn from a responsible adult. The choice is yours.
Posted by Curtis B on September 21, 2000 at 18:02:52:
I take my kids shooting to take there minds off other sports. and concentrate on shooting mentally.
One of them does Shot Put and Discus, She went all the way to the National Junior Olympics. Shooting help her a lot on focusing on her spin in the throws. She want to keep on shooting too. I do shoot too and Playing basketall seem to help me get the excersise I need for shooting air pistol. Phx. AZ
Posted by mako on September 22, 2000 at 11:01:49:
From Christina Cassidy's dad:
First of all I am one that thinks gun safety should be taught to every 6th or
7th grade student in the US. There is the big scare that guns are bad and
that guns kill, if that is so then it should be mandatory that all students
learn how to treat guns and what to do if one is found or another kid is
playing with one. That in its self would bring thousands of children into
shooting just because it is so fun and challenging. The other reason is that
not all children find the sport that they excel in at school. Gymnastics,
ice skating, rollerblading, skiing, surfing, fencing ect... and shooting are
all sports that are not usually found in school. Someone has to get them
into these sports and let them try it out while they are young and learning
new things, shooting is one of them. I do not know many people that have
come out and learned how to shoot, correctly, and did not like it. Christina
was one. Kind of shy, not athletic, did not like school sports but a very
good listener and able to concentrate for long periods. She took right off
with shooting and did no other sports. She has had a lot of fun with it and
a lot of success which helps with self confidence. I feel sorry for all the
children that would have liked shooting and might have been really good at it
but couldn't because of a closed mind not letting them do it.
Sorry if I
rambled on but I feel strongly about shooting.
Posted by RMB on September 23, 2000 at 02:29:48:
Do a search for books by John Lott Jr. Mr. Lott was hired by the U.S. Justice Department to do a study of kids and guns. He was a self professed anti kids and guns type person. Mr. Lott found that of all of the identifiable groups in Jr. high and High school, the kids involved in organized shooting programs were the highest achievers, and the least delinquent. The DOJ was not happy with the results of Mr. Lotts studies, and so you only see a small note about this in their publications on kids and guns being bad. Mr. Lott is now a big time supporter of guns, and is a spokes person for the NRA.
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