Perhaps no better example may be made of the complete and utter contempt held for our liberties than the opposition growing towards high school clay target leagues. These are rapidly increasing in popularity with tens of thousands of youth learning firearm responsibility and marksmanship.
Minnesota is a prime example.
The state enjoys a rich tradition in hunting and sport shooting, and a new grassroots program took shape in 2008. From humble beginnings, the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League was formed.
Clay target shooting is an Olympic sport with four categories of competition. Shooters compete individually and as teams, and it is steeped in social interaction. John Nelson, President of the USA Clay Target League and its Minnesota chapter, aptly described it as “like golf only louder.”
The new league provided participating schools with an organized way to bring students and coaches together to form a gun club with safety certifications and insurance. In-person competitions were held along with “virtual” events where students shoot in their home locations and compare scores.
Growth has been exponential. Nelson’s USA Clay Target League now boasts over 46,000 members nationwide in grades 6-12. A full 12,000 of these participating youth are in Minnesota, and for perspective, that number is 50% higher than participation in boys and girls hockey in the state.
As Nelson explained, sport shooters do not need to be the fastest, tallest, or strongest in their peer groups to excel. “You could have an offensive lineman from the football team next to a girl on the dance team next to somebody on the debate team next to somebody in a wheelchair.”
And gun safety is critical. At least 40% of team members did not previously have firearm safety training before joining.
So, where exactly is the problem?
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, those who staunchly oppose gun rights have a major issue with the financial support that comes in from the National Rifle Association (NRA). Of course, anything favored by Second Amendment advocates must be inherently evil in their way of thinking.
USA Clay Target received $39,000 in NRA funding in 2021, according to IRS 990 filings. The nation’s largest gun rights organization donated millions in cash and other methods of support in recent years to youth shooting-sports organizations, including over $100,000 to those in Minnesota.
Kris Brown, president of gun control advocacy group Brady, finds this support troubling. “I look at anything funded by the National Rifle Association with a jaundiced eye, because about 30 years ago they stopped talking publicly about any risks associated with firearms.”
She added, “In this country, suicide with a firearm is at a 40-year-high, and this is particularly true with teenagers.”
It is highly questionable that these facts apply to high school clay target team members. Is there a single violent event that sprang from one of these teams or its participants? That is quite doubtful considering that the anti-gun crowd would breathlessly publicize any such occurrence.
In fact, the Minnesota league has a perfect safety record. In which other high school sport may supporters boast of having zero injuries reported?
Nelson also counters this narrative from anti-Second Amendment advocates. “We have some people in this world that think we are creating the next generation of mass murderers. They try to connect an athlete that’s shooting a clay target to some lunatic that is shooting people in a school environment.”
Clearly some will oppose even the safest and most easily defensible exercise of gun rights. But teaching responsible ownership and use of firearms to American youth is a high calling, and one worthy of broad support from those who want to preserve this tradition and pass it on.
