Despite being viewed as a tool or piece of equipment such as a baseball bat, hockey stick or golf club, a Minnesota high school trap shooting team was originally barred from having their team picture in the school’s yearbook with their shotguns.
Amid controversy, the Big Lake High School’s athletic director said depicting the students with their guns was against school policy which was established to prevent students from trying to include inappropriate photos with firearms in school photos.
While the athletic director stood behind the district’s blanket policy, students, parents, organizations and the community rallied behind a common sense approach to the problem.
“We immediately mobilized our supporter base. We sent out an email, we engaged in our social media to have people contact the athletic director, the school principal and the school superintendent,” Rob Doar, political director of the Gun Owners Caucus told CBS Minnesota. “[The administrators] seemed a little asinine that they wouldn’t allow the photo of the group that they sanctioned to be inside of the yearbook.”
After a number of parents and community members came forward in support of the picture, the Big Lake School District eventually rescinded their position and agreed to allow the team to pose with their guns.
“I guess it was victory,” said coach Rhonda Eckerdt. “We get the trapshooting team in the yearbook.”
As one of the fastest-growing high school sports in the state of Minnesota, a formal request for the policy amendment was officially approved that would allow trap teams in the future to also pose with their equipment.
While we all can certainly understand the reasoning behind certain pieces of legislation, regulations, and guidelines, we should also be able to take a common sense approach to issues such as this one.
When it comes to our shooting sports, the unfortunate reality is that we as sportsmen, gun owners, and law-abiding citizens must remain vigilant in any regulatory actions against our rich history and pastimes.