As of 2018, there are reportedly more than 2,000 high-school rifle programs across the United States. [1] In 2015, 9,245 students in 317 schools across three states participated in the USA High School Clay Target League. In 2018, participation had increased 138% with 21,917 students from 804 teams in 20 states. [2]
Supported by organizations like the Civilian Marksmanship Program, school-based gun education was routine for much of the 20th century. It was common for high school teams to compete with .22 caliber rifles. In recent years, air rifles have gained in popularity as a more affordable and safer alternative to .22 rifles. [1]
Until 1969 virtually every public high school—even in New York City—had a shooting club. High school students in New York City carried their guns to school on the subways in the morning, turned them over to their homeroom teacher or the gym coach during the day, and retrieved them after school for target practice. Club members were given their rifles and ammunition by the federal government. Students regularly competed in citywide shooting contests for university scholarships.
In 2008, the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League was formed out of an after-school mentorship program run by Jim Sable, [4] a retired advertising executive and avid trap shooter. By 2010 the program had renamed itself the USA Clay Target League. Today, the USA Clay Target League is the largest youth clay target shooting program with over 38,000 students participating in 2021. [5]
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to entertain the audience, or for competition. Cheerleading routines typically range anywhere from one to three minutes, and contain components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting.
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms and bows/crossbows.
In the United States (U.S.), a marksmanship badge is a U.S. military badge or a civilian badge which is awarded to personnel upon successful completion of a weapons qualification course or high achievement in an official marksmanship competition. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps are the only military services that award marksmanship qualification badges. However, marksmanship medals and/or marksmanship ribbons are awarded by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Air Force for weapons qualifications. For non-military personnel, different U.S. law enforcement organizations and the National Rifle Association (NRA) award marksmanship qualification badges to those involved in law enforcement. Additionally, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and the NRA award marksmanship qualification badges to U.S. civilians. Most of these organizations and the U.S. National Guard award marksmanship competition badges to the people they support who succeed in official competitions.
Trap shooting, or trapshooting in North America, is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting, which is shooting shotguns at clay targets. The other disciplines are skeet shooting and sporting clays.
J. P. Taravella High School is a secondary school located in Coral Springs, Florida which teaches grades 9–12. The school is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. The school was named after Joseph Phillip Taravella (1919–1978), who was the president and chairman of Coral Ridge Properties, Inc., a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and a founder of the City of Coral Springs.
Sydney High School Rifle Club is a Rifle Shooting club established in 1883 within Sydney Boys High School. It is based at the ANZAC Rifle Range in Sydney, Australia. The club is affiliated to the New South Wales Rifle Association and participates in competitions conducted by the AAGPS.
The ANZAC Rifle Range is a rifle range located on the Malabar Headland, Malabar, in the City of Randwick local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is headquarters to the New South Wales Rifle Association, and hosts the annual NSW Queen's Prize shooting competitions. The range is located on land owned by the Commonwealth of Australia.
Andover High School is a four-year public high school at 2115 Andover Blvd, Andover, Minnesota, United States. It is a part of Anoka-Hennepin School District 11 and is one of five traditional high schools in the district. It is the district's newest high school, opening in 2002. The first class graduated from Andover High School in 2004; the first class to have attended all four years of high school there graduated in 2006. It has students from both Andover and Ham Lake. The school's student population is 1750; they are 1% Native American, 1% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 3% African American, and 93% Caucasian.
Alden-Conger High School is a public high school located in Alden, Minnesota, United States.
Southern Preparatory Academy is a private military school located in Camp Hill, Alabama for boys in grades 6-12.
Austin High School is a public high school in Austin, Minnesota, United States. It is part of Austin Public Schools, established in 1857. The home of the Packers, the school has over 1,250 students; AHS prides itself on having strong academics, athletics, and fine arts. The school colors are Scarlet and White, and the sports team is the Packers. AHS is a member of the Big 9 Conference.
The Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) - formerly the Minnesota Community College Conference - is a junior college collegiate athletic conference in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The 23 member institutions are located in the Midwest, including Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin and they compete primarily at the NJCAA Division III level in most sports. Football and Wrestling are single-division sports in the NJCAA. The MCAC was established in the fall of 1967.
The North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) is a historical and competitive organization whose goal is to maintain the knowledge of the unique firearms used during the American Civil War. Formed in 1950 to commemorate the men who fought on both sides during the war, the association is based mainly in the eastern United States, and there are related associations in the western United States
Smallbore rifle shooting, sometimes known as miniature rifle shooting, is a set of disciplines of shooting sports. Smallbore shooting uses smaller-calibre rifles, typically chambered in .22 Long Rifle, at ranges generally of 100 yards (91 m) or shorter. Depending on the range, it can either be conducted indoors or outdoors.
4-H Safety Education in Shooting Sports Programs are part of 4-H in the United States, a youth organization administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." The name represents four personal development areas of focus for the organization: head, heart, hands, and health.
NRHEG High School is in New Richland, Minnesota, United States. NRHEG stands for New Richland, Hartland, Ellendale, and Geneva, the towns the school district covers.
The USA Clay Target League of Saint Paul, Minnesota, organizes and runs high school and college clay target shooting programs along with state tournaments and a yearly National Championship
The National Shooting Centre is the UK's largest shooting sports complex, comprising several shooting ranges as well as the large "Bisley Camp" complex of accommodation, clubhouses and support services. The centre is located near the village of Bisley in Surrey from which it takes its colloquial name "Bisley ranges". The site is wholly owned by the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NSC is the trading name of the facility.
On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, United States, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at the school, fled the scene on foot by blending in with other students and was arrested without incident approximately one hour and twenty minutes later in nearby Coral Springs. Police and prosecutors investigated "a pattern of disciplinary issues and unnerving behavior".
In 2018, protests against gun violence in the United States increased after a series of mass shootings, most notably at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14 that year. An organized protest in the form of a national school walkout occurred on March 14. March for Our Lives was held on March 24. Another major demonstration occurred April 20, 2018.