***This is the final part of a full-spectrum review of Washington’s assault on gun rights. Find the other four stories on CrossPolitic News:***
Steadying her breathing with longer, deeper breaths, the young, nervous 13-year old girl stares through the sights of the shotgun waiting for a target to present itself. At the signal, a blur of motion crosses her vision. Trying to lead her target, accounting for the speed and direction, she opens fire – a direct hit.
No, this is not a description of one of the tragic, but also sadly exploited, school shootings that have flooded the news in recent years. It is the regional shooting match for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WAIA)-sponsored Trap Shooting League. And it is one of the tools that Washington’s citizens will employ to recover the self governance of the second amendment.
As the four previous stories in this series have documented, the gun control politicians and lobbyists have a strangle-hold in Washington state that – at present – cannot be challenged in the halls of congress or on the ballot. Their messaging is strong, their pockets are deep, and their voting majority is unstoppable.
What then can be done to turn the tide?
For gun rights advocate and owner of Sharp Shooting Indoor Range and Gun Club, Jeremy Ball, the best possible play is educating and discipling the next generations in the realities of gun ownership, safety, and use.
To say that there is a negative stigma surrounding guns among young people is an understatement in the extreme. Ball, a volunteer coach of the local trap team in Rockford, Washington, put out the question, why is that? Why do so many young people have such an adverse reaction to the idea of owning, much less handling, a firearm?
One could argue that the messaging of institutions like public schools and the persuasive nature of anti-gun rhetoric on social media are major factors, but for Ball, the problem goes even deeper.
“I also believe it comes down to accountability,” he said, pointing the finger back at his industry. “We have failed these kids as an industry. We have not developed kids programs to help get them involved in shooting sports, we have not pushed in things like FFA, trap and skeet, and things that expose kids to firearms on a regular basis when they’re young in a positive manner.”
“We have not pushed back as an industry to get kids involved. We have failed to provide a positive outlook for them, and a positive outlet for teaching them safe firearms ownership and teaching them some of the things they get to do with guns.”
While Ball does point to his own industry’s lack of involvement til now in reversing the course of heavy indoctrination of children to fear any use or handling of firearms, the same cannot be said for Ball himself.
For the last two-three years, Ball has been working with the local trap team near Spokane Valley, at Freeman High School.
If that name sounds familiar, it is because in 2017 it was the site of one of the two school shootings in Washington state in the last 11 years. In that event, three students were injured and one lost his life, attempting to disarm the gunman.
Sam Strahan was a sophomore at Freeman High School when he confronted a fellow student in school hallway on morning of Sept. 13, 2017. The other boy had 2 guns. Sam was shot and killed, and 3 girls were seriously injured. Sam will be remembered as a true hero.#FreemanStrong pic.twitter.com/b0kvszSE4z
— KXLY 920 News Now (@kxly920) August 20, 2022
Now, eight years later, Ball said, their school trap team – a sport where students shoot clay pigeons at local gun ranges, that is actually one of the Washington Interscholastic Athletics programs offered for students in Washington public schools – has ballooned from roughly 20 students three years ago to more than 90 this year.
“Ninety kids, in a small rural high school that are getting involved in guns in a positive way,” Ball said of the program. “And many of them were at that school when it happened.”
Freeman, being such a small school, has all grades K-12, in the same building complex, and so some as young as first or second grade would have been there on that fateful day. But here they are, many of them now having participated for multiple years, learning and honing their craft in using firearms safely and effectively.
“This (sport) helps spread the culture that this is safe, this is ok,” said Brad Nixon, the coach of the Jenkins High School trap team out of Chewelah, WA. “Guns aren’t just for killing people. They’re here for competition, for sport, and to have a good time. This is an education thing above all. And it educates our adults sometimes more than it does our kids.”
With nearly 52,000 participating athletes, the League is the world's largest clay target shooting sports organization!
— USA Clay Target (@USA_ClayTarget) June 14, 2024
Make sure to check out our new website at https://t.co/ovBojBw9es! #trapshooting #skeetshooting #shootingsports #firearms #claytarget
Nixon – whose team of shooters from as young as 13 years old to 18-year-old high school seniors, competed at the Freeman School invitational at the gun club in Spangle, WA – has been coaching the sport for the last three years. Before that, he was a participant in the mid-2000’s as a high school student in Chewelah. The program disappeared for nearly two decades after he graduated, but has come back recently with him as one of the coaches.
He made it clear, this is not a program for only experienced shooters or families who have been all-in on guns before joining. It truly is an educational experiencing and is helping to remove the undue fear surrounding firearms.
“I see it a lot when I get a kid whose never handled a firearm before – they’re terrified,” Nixon said. “It’s like they’re holding a fragile piece of glass that’s going to blow up at any second.”
“Then you take them for a year and they have tons of confidence. And you get to pass that through dozens and hundreds of kids. And when they get to vote, they’re going to say, ‘what are you talking about?’ These things don’t just magically go off.”
Nixon has seen the transformation plenty of times in his three years as a coach. One of his most accurate shooters is a young man who started last year with absolutely no experience with guns and now averages near 20 hits out of the 25 shots per round.
And across the state of Washington, there are many such cases. By Nixon’s estimation, the state will welcome nearly 400 students from roughly 40-50 schools at the state shooting event this month.
It is a growing sport in a state that takes an increasingly antagonistic stance toward gun ownership and accessibility. Nixon, himself, became a paid employee of the school this year as the district agreed to support the team for the 2024-2025 school year.
The support, though, is not without some controversy and even confusion when it comes to what can or cannot be provided.
“We still struggle with the booster club, having them help support us with fundraising and helping us to buy shells for the kids,” Nixon said. “Everyone goes, ‘Oh no! Can we even buy bullets for the kids? Is that legal?’ And even we don’t know some of it because of the laws that are out there and it’s not communicated very well.”
When it comes to knowledge and communication, both Nixon and Ball recognize that the lion’s share of responsibility doesn’t lie with the gun industry or school programs. While they can be great allies in turning the tide of public opinion, the reality is that parents will be the best teachers of their children in the safe storage and handling of firearms.
“It probably can be done. But it’s going to take parent(s) who are motivated to do it and to start pushing the issue. They expect gun store owners to lead the charge...but I can’t do it by myself. The approach needs to happen in the community, and if you make enough noise people will listen.” - Jeremy Ball
Those small nuclear families that make up communities – small and large – are what is required to transform the atmosphere around firearms in Washington state and nationwide. Thus far, those voices have been some of the least involved in the conversation – at least in any coordinated or meaningful manner.
It is one thing to spout off and complain about the state of gun rights; it’s another thing entirely to connect with other families to speak forcefully about the need to maintain and reclaim the freedoms given to Americans by God. Those coordinated voices, then must also be willing to pass on an inheritance of freedom and self governance to the next generations.
There is enough momentum in many communities to see what is possible, even in such a dismal political climate. Will this and future generations recover the political will to act and see a real recovery of what has been lost?
