TargetTalk

NRA Announces
Outrage Of The Week, 04/11/08

Friday, April 11, 2008

This week's outrage comes from North Carolina, where an East Wake High School principal, acting with the support of the area superintendent, stopped the school's Marksmanship Team from participating in a decades-old tournament, less than one day before the competition.
The reason? Well, though state law allows firearms education at schools, the county in which the school resides bans firearms from school campuses and prohibits students from carrying firearms on school trips. Apparently, one of East Wake High School's principals, Sebastian Shipp, determined that the policy extended the prohibition to students participating in an off-campus event--namely, the tournament that the 16-member marksmanship and orienteering team had been preparing for--so he barred the team from participating. Area superintendent, Danny Barnes, supported Shipp's decision noting that these kinds of decisions are up to each principal.
Commenting on the policy, Wes Seegars, chairman of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said, "I can appreciate the fact they may have a policy, but all the government agencies need to remember, they're there to serve the public. There is something lost in a policy that does not serve the needs of the community."
The decision nullified months of practice by the 16-member marksmanship and orienteering team.
So, we have a time-honored, decades-old tournament that is sponsored by a state agency and supervised by adults certified in firearms safety. A tournament in which students have invested months of disciplined practice. And less than one day before they are due to compete, they are barred from participating due to a very questionable school ruling. That's outrageous.
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You may contact the principal at the address and phone below to express your complaint or comment. Be sure to cc the school board at lmillberg@wcpss.net.

Sebastian C. Shipp, Principal
sshipp@wcpss.net
919-365-2626

I sent the following:
Sir:

If, as reported, you took upon yourself to cancel the Match (see copy below), I say "Shame on you"!!

I point out that shooting competition is an Olympic Sport for both male and female athletes; you might consider stopping football, basketball and other nationally recognized sports based on your personal opinion.

I and my friends will support any legal action against you and the School Board with both time and money to prevent this action, or any similar, in the future.

Tillman Eddy
Delray Beach, Florida




NRA Announces
Outrage Of The Week, 04/11/08

Friday, April 11, 2008

This week's outrage comes from North Carolina, where an East Wake High School principal, acting with the support of the area superintendent, stopped the school's Marksmanship Team from participating in a decades-old tournament, less than one day before the competition.
The reason? Well, though state law allows firearms education at schools, the county in which the school resides bans firearms from school campuses and prohibits students from carrying firearms on school trips. Apparently, one of East Wake High School's principals, Sebastian Shipp, determined that the policy extended the prohibition to students participating in an off-campus event--namely, the tournament that the 16-member marksmanship and orienteering team had been preparing for--so he barred the team from participating. Area superintendent, Danny Barnes, supported Shipp's decision noting that these kinds of decisions are up to each principal.
Commenting on the policy, Wes Seegars, chairman of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said, "I can appreciate the fact they may have a policy, but all the government agencies need to remember, they're there to serve the public. There is something lost in a policy that does not serve the needs of the community."
The decision nullified months of practice by the 16-member marksmanship and orienteering team.
So, we have a time-honored, decades-old tournament that is sponsored by a state agency and supervised by adults certified in firearms safety. A tournament in which students have invested months of disciplined practice. And less than one day before they are due to compete, they are barred from participating due to a very questionable school ruling. That's outrageous.

seems the principal is living up to his initials.

So why couldn't the kids participate as individuals? They have just learned to stand up on their own.

I have always felt that the overwhelming majority of people in our country have little or no common sense what so ever.This principle, and his reasoning ability, is a typical example of what our country is steadily becoming.

This school is located across the county from me, and was the topic of head-shaking discussions all weekend.

Tongue in cheek...One thing we discussed is that the marksmanship team trains to shoot PAPER, not PEOPLE. Thus and therefore, why do they permit the JROTC units in Wake County schools? After all, the purpose of JROTC is all about training children to be service rifle killers, isn't it? Dumb!

We're all pretty upset about this development. However, this is the same school district that is re-districting students constantly, no matter how the kids are harmed. I have three kids in two different high schools and two different grades, and all three live in the same house - stupid.

One can only hope that some of these kids, and parents, will go on to become teachers, pricipals, and school board members.