I occasionally get really odd looks from people outside of (or new to) Scouting when I mention our Shooting Sports campouts and our participation in shooting sports at BSA functions.   I could never understand their surprise, so I started asking questions as to why it seems so strange.

• Aren't they too young?
  
• Doesn't it hurt them?
• Aren't you worried that they'll hurt themselves or someone else if you teach them to shoot?

Of course, the answers are No, No, and No.  Why am I so confident?

Leaders who wish to become involved in Shooting Sports go through serious training at the hands of the Denver Area Council BSA and NRA.  We occasionally appoint line officers to help out at the range, but they are helpers to those leaders who have completed the official trainings and are so certified.

Before we even depart for the event, we've drilled the Scouts on the rules of safe firearms handling and lots of hypothetical situations. We discuss the firearms themselves, as well as the ammunition and how it works. We teach how to "make safe" any firearm that we're using - as well as a few others that we don't use, so that if they come across them outside of Scouting, they can keep themselves (and others) as safe as possible. And we repeat. And we repeat. And then? We repeat. 

We typically have programs for .22lr rifle, black powder rifle, 12 gauge shotgun and archery, but we will only open ranges if we have space and properly-certified personnel to safely staff them.  If we don't, then we don't open that range.  We might need to alternate activities over the course of the day to allow youth to enjoy each of them. (Hint: we can always use more certified folks!)  All of the firearms are single-shot: rifles are usually bolt-action; we allow one shotshell to be loaded into a shotgun at a time; and the black powder rifles we use are single-shot by default.  It is more difficult these days to find anything that isn't magazine-fed, so they are allowed, but only one bullet at a time can be loaded.

Fireams and ammunition are locked up, stored separately, and are kept separate on the range until it is doled out at the firing points.

I serve as a Range Safety Officer.  I keep an eye on everything, looking for any unsafe conditions or situations, and that's all I do.  If a bunny comes hopping across the range, we call a Cease Fire.  If a youth forgets where they are and starts moving the muzzle into an unsafe direction, we're on them. If the eweather starts looking hinky, we shut it down. The Instructors for the various areas are also certified as RSOs.  There are eyes everywhere. And the events are so heavily planned that if anything is out of place, we see it and deal with it immediately.

We bring a ton of safety equipment and first aid equipment appropriate to the event. We discuss the possible injuries and the first aid required for everything we do, and this is certainly no different. Most of us have basic first aid training, and many of us have wilderness first aid training and stop the bleed training.

Moreover, in the handling of real firearms, safely, they learn that nothing is as simple as what their video games portray. They learn that there is real discipline needed to operate them. But, we still have fun with them. We've had epic games of shotgun pickup; for rifle, we've shot competitively for 3- or 5-shot groups, played games with spinner targets, and had golf ball races.

And when bad headlines happen, we discuss them. We talk about the differences between who we are as Scouts and what we stand for, as opposed to idiots who misuse/mishandle firearms.

Most importantly, we teach the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Motto, Slogan, and Outdoor Code all year 'round. That includes:

A Scout is Kind.

A Scout knows there is strength in being gentle. He treats others as he wants to be treated. Without good reason, he does not harm or kill any living thing.

So, I'm not worried. Come watch us.