I'm sorry if my reply came across as abrasive- it wasn't my intent, but I felt my character was in question so I was a bit on the defensive side. Hope all is clear, now.Nothing I said was meant to be vague, until you replied today it was unknown what was going on and since there have been a couple of less than perfect incidents in the past I felt there was a need to escalate the communication on this. Now that you replied everything looks much better.
Why does our Cubmaster feel we "need" 40 guns? For starters, it's not only about shooting the guns. You'll have 10-15 (15 being absolute max) shooting, but we also wanted to have a station before the shooting station where the boys could handle guns and learn to load, cock, aim, etc so they're not getting up to the targets and freaking out about the whole scenario. We figured them having 15-20 minutes of handling a gun before they're firing the gun would be significantly more wise than handing them a gun to shoot then expecting them to listen as we explained everything else. So the 10-15 shooting jumps to 20-30 for handling procedures and then shooting. Beyond that, there are almost always going to be failures of some sort and as the Boy Scouts always advertised when I was in 20 years ago, the boys need to learn to "Always Be Prepared" even on the Cub Scouts level.
Hi all, my name is David Rollins and I am the District Chairman for Tunica, as well as a board member of the Istrouma Area Council for the Boy Scouts of America. I'm also an NRA Certified Instructor, NRA Life Member, competitive skeet shooter (NSSA), and a pretty easy going guy, so I'm here to introduce myself and clarify a few points.
First I'd like to thank the original poster for taking the initiative to make sure there is enough equipment for this weekend's campout at Avondale. This is Cub Family Weekend, so there will be a huge crowd (at last count over a thousand people are registered). My wife and I will be onsite, so look for me and say hello if you are out there. I will most likely be camping with Pack 283, but the best place to find anyone is usually the mess hall or the Director's Lodge. I'm always in uniform, with a name tag and a shoulder patch that says District Chairman.
We all know that collectively owned guns often suffer from lack of proper maintenance; this is true in the military, scouts, heck even the guns that go back and forth between myself and my family members. The Istrouma Area Council can own assets and equipment (e.g., guns), including the ones at Avondale under the care of Joe Sanchez, the ASR Camp Manager. The District cannot own anything; we are a pass-through to the council. The units (i.e., cub scout packs) cannot own assets -- technically their checking accounts, camp trailers, and other equipment is owned by the chartering organisation, not the pack / troop committee or leaders. Of course, what happens in theory and in practice are very different, and I know that many units operate mostly independently of the chartering organisation's leadership. As a shooting instructor, my personal policy is that my students only shoot guns that I own or control, for reasons of safety and liability.
I'll be looking into the issue of shooting equipment at Avondale, and will report back here if there is interest. As for this weekend, I can't answer whether we have enough guns or not as I have delegated the coordination of activities to Keith Stark (cubmaster for P283). I've been asked by the council to investigate improvements to the shooting range and equipment, including writing grant requests to the NSSF and the Pelican State Friends of the NRA Foundation. Feel free to PM me with what you think we need to do, or post it here. You can also call me anytime at 1 800 378 3763.
Finally, thanks to Mike Christensen for bringing this post to my attention. Thank ALL of you on this board, for what you do to keep the shooting sports alive to be passed down to the next generation.
David Rollins
I'm not trying to pick on you here, but let me get this straight... you're going to have a line (complete with required range officers) of 15 boys shooting bb guns, plus the required safety table (with leaders teaching all of the safety rules, etc.), PLUS you're going to add in a third station (with more leaders) allowing the boys to cock and dry-fire air rifles WHILE the other boys are shooting????? Please tell me you are going to consult with someone who has actually taken the BSA range training before y'all ink these plans???
I see this idea as 1) a good way to blow out some new air rifles, 2) a good way to distract from your safety class, and 3) a good way to spread your leadership too thin.
I fail to see anywhere in the BSA Shooting Manual where it advises/requires you to do this.
Again, please forgive me as I'm not trying to come across as ugly. I just see a lot of this sort of thing... I can't comprehend why so many people think they have to reinvent the wheel! We're talking about a millions-strong organization with tons of documentation, guidelines and required training... and people just pull stuff like this out of their ass! I think the biggest problem I've encountered on Cub BB ranges is a LACK of organization and adherence to the official rules... these kinds of ideas sounds great in theory, but in practice you'll be herding cats! There is a reason for the above-linked, official 133-page manual... quit thinking and start reading!!!
If you get as many guns as you think you are, you should donate them to YOUR pack! Let your Pack Master or a very involved Den Chief or Leader be the custodian of the guns. Make sure that whomever the that person is, they forward the guns to the next leader should their son bail, or they move on. Happens all the time.
Great idea, as long as the guns live out their useful lives and don't end up in someone's personal collection (or worse yet, the pawn shop or eBay). When you solicit people for donations, you have a responsibility to make sure the money is well spent.
Just playing devil's advocate here; I'm sure the original poster will take care of the equipment (guns). I'm trying to avoid a situation whereby someone has to go begging again this time next year.