Big Lake High School in Minnesota has made the news, but not all news outlets are covering the story. In case you haven’t heard about it, the school barred one of its official teams from having its group picture in the school’s yearbook, because members of the team were holding guns for the photo shoot.
But the team is the school’s trap shooting team, and the guns they’re holding are their trap shotguns. One member of the team, who also plays baseball for the school, said holding his shotgun for the trap photo is no different than holding a bat for his baseball shot. It’s what you use in the sport, so why is it a big deal?
School officials said it’s simply school policy to not allow displays of firearms or weapons of any kind. If that’s the case, why do they have a trap team? Don’t they know a kid on their trap team is going to have to brandish a firearm at some point?
The team took the issue in front of the school board last Thursday, and the board ruled that the photo could run in the yearbook. It was a victory for the trap team and for shooting sports in general. I hope it also educates the public on the difference between legitimate, lawful, constructive firearm uses and the junk that typically makes the news, where guns are concerned. After all, if any of these Big Lake High School trap team members did anything illegal or violent with a gun, you can bet we’d all hear about it. But they don’t. Why? Because they have been raised with guns, taught to respect guns, and handle their guns safely.
On one hand, I respect the school officials for their consistency in enforcing the rules. But come on. Guns themselves are not evil. And these kids are proving that.
