JROTC Ranges

[76Olympian]

There are over 3000 JROTC units across the US. About half (1500) have shooting ranges (air gun or converted 50 ft smallbore ranges).

Most of these JROTC ranges are only used during school hours or maybe for practice sessions by the JROTC rifle teams until 6 or 7pm a couple nights per week.

These ranges are unused for the most part after school hours and weekends.

These ranges belong to the school system, not the JROTC. JROTC uses these ranges as part of a MOU between the school system and Cadet Command/local Sr Instructor.

The opportunity exists to use these high school shooting ranges after school hours and/or weekends by local junior shooting clubs. This suggestion will not be well received by the JROTC SAIs, because all of them use these ranges for 'storage' of equipment and their rifles. They have a double lock requirement for securing guns and equipment, but there are ways to meet this requirement so that they are in compliance.

I know that a good accomodation can be achieved. A good example is Columbus High School in Georgia where the varisity team is made up of JROTC cadets and non JROTC students. The MOU has to be modified.

I would like to start a forum discussion about how best to approach these school districts that have JROTC ranges and revise the MOU to allow nonJROTC students and junior clubs to access and use these range facilities...after hours and/or weekends..

The challenges are:
- there needs to be a positive relationship with the school district Board
- there needs to be a positive relationship with the JROTC Sr Instructor
- the club must have competent, 'certified' coaches and range safety officers that will be responsible for all activies on the range during its use by the club
- the club must have adequate liability insurance
- the club must secure its own equipment in or near the range facility
- overcoming 'fear' about 'guns' on campus (JROTC already has 'guns' on campus and transports them in and out of the HS for competitions)
- air guns are not 'fire arms' which may or may not over come 'fears' of guns on campus
- anti gun school board members, staff, media and/or parents

We could all add about a dozen more challenges to this list..

Looking forward to a 'lively' discussion..

[jhmartin]

Hey, I'm always game for "lively".

The more I coach, the more I can see how blessed that I am for the facilities that I use to have the kids shoot both air and smallbore rifle.

We have 2 high schools in my county that "supposedly" have shooting programs and their ranges, while cooled in the summer and heated in the winter, are not as well laid out as the "tin barn" I'm allowed to use at the local county fairgrounds. I'm only slightly (ha-ha) obsessive, compulsive and like things laid out my way .... I'm guessing that many coaches are as well.

I guess in certain situations, I'd be interested in looking at what a school has to offer, but due to lack of common courtesy ond respect for community property, even the parking lots of schools I used to take my kids to so that they could learn to ride a bike are gated, closed and locked after hours and weekends. Remember when you used to go to the school grounds on weekends and play on the swings and other fund gear .... all locked up now.

Mike, in addition, you should add that many (if not a majority) of the gear and funds to outfit the ranges and JROTC teams comes from FNRA grants which are supposed to be publicly used. Much of my 4-H gear is that way as well, but liability issues force me to only offer the facilities and gear on ongoing basis to 4-H members. (anyone can join, but many think they have to raise a steer too for some reason...)

Also, IMO, you really need to run a program all year round to get the kids real success ... try getting into a school in the summer ... you have to pay for security and custodial at overtime rates (at least here in our county).

In the end, I think it will do no harm to go and ask the SMI if you could share the facility. It's a good idea that will go over with all ... some SMI could be positive, most, not so much. There is a school in the next county that the SMI opens his range for International air pistol shooters to come in during his own (rifle) practice times. One of the truly good guys. Another has opened his range to all the shooters that want to continue practicing for 3-P air JO's during the summer. Both these guys are very dedicated shooting coaches and bend over backwards to accommodate the youth shooters ... from JROTC to us crazy 4H-ers

Again, personally, I like having my own facility that I only have to vacate for about 3 weeks a year when the county fair is getting ready and going on. We make a good "tenant" I think as we keep the place clean and help them set up for the fair. We also share the facility, but I'll have to admit I get irritated when the rabbit club comes in and there are little droppings all over .... it's the O-C in me.

[GCSInc]

I offer the Georgia Code, which we helped craft.

Georgia General Assembly
Unannotated Code 16-11-127.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'School safety zone' means in, on, or within 1,000 feet of any real property owned by or leased to any public or private elementary school, secondary school, or school board and used for elementary or secondary education and in, on, or within 1,000 feet of the campus of any public or private technical school, vocational school, college, university, or institution of postsecondary education.
(2) 'Weapon' means and includes any pistol, revolver, or any weapon designed or intended to propel a missile of any kind, or any dirk, bowie knife, switchblade knife, ballistic knife, any other knife having a blade of two or more inches, straight-edge razor, razor blade, spring stick, metal knucks, blackjack, any bat, club, or other bludgeon-type weapon, or any flailing instrument consisting of two or more rigid parts connected in such a manner as to allow them to swing freely, which may be known as a nun chahka, nun chuck, nunchaku, shuriken, or fighting chain, or any disc, of whatever configuration, having at least two points or pointed blades which is designed to be thrown or propelled and which may be known as a throwing star or oriental dart, or any weapon of like kind, and any stun gun or taser as defined in subsection (a) of Code Section 16-11-106. This paragraph excludes any of these instruments used for classroom work authorized by the teacher.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, it shall be unlawful for any person to carry to or to possess or have under such person´s control while within a school safety zone or at a school building, school function, or school property or on a bus or other transportation furnished by the school any weapon or explosive compound, other than fireworks the possession of which is regulated by Chapter 10 of Title 25. Any person who violates this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000.00, by imprisonment for not less than two nor more than ten years, or both; provided, however, that upon conviction of a violation of this subsection involving a firearm as defined in paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Code Section 16-11-131, or a dangerous weapon or machine gun as defined in Code Section 16-11-121, such person shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000.00 or by imprisonment for a period of not less than five nor more than ten years, or both. A child who violates this subsection shall be subject to the provisions of Code Section 15-11-63.
(c) The provisions of this Code section shall not apply to:
(1) Baseball bats, hockey sticks, or other sports equipment possessed by competitors for legitimate athletic purposes;
(2) Participants in organized sport shooting events or firearm training courses;
(3) Persons participating in military training programs conducted by or on behalf of the armed forces of the United States or the Georgia Department of Defense;
(4) Persons participating in law enforcement training conducted by a police academy certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council or by a law enforcement agency of the state or the United States or any political subdivision thereof; (5) The following persons, when acting in the performance of their official duties or when en route to or from their official duties:
(A) A peace officer as defined by Code Section 35-8-2;
(B) A law enforcement officer of the United States government;
(C) A prosecuting attorney of this state or of the United States;
(D) An employee of the Georgia Department of Corrections or a correctional facility operated by a political subdivision of this state or the United States who is authorized by the head of such correctional agency or facility to carry a firearm;
(E) A person employed as a campus police officer or school security officer who is authorized to carry a weapon in accordance with Chapter 8 of Title 20; and
(F) Medical examiners, coroners, and their investigators who are employed by the state or any political subdivision thereof;
(6) A person who has been authorized in writing by a duly authorized official of the school to have in such person´s possession or use as part of any activity being conducted at a school building, school property, or school function a weapon which would otherwise be prohibited by this Code section. Such authorization shall specify the weapon or weapons which have been authorized and the time period during which the authorization is valid;
(7) A person who is licensed in accordance with Code Section 16-11-129 or issued a permit pursuant to Code Section 43-38-10, when such person carries or picks up a student at a school building, school function, or school property or on a bus or other transportation furnished by the school or any weapon legally kept within a vehicle in transit through a designated school zone by any person other than a student;
(8) A weapon which is in a locked compartment of a motor vehicle or one which is in a locked container in or a locked firearms rack which is on a motor vehicle which is being used by an adult over 21 years of age to bring to or pick up a student at a school building, school function, or school property or on a bus or other transportation furnished by the school, or when such vehicle is used to transport someone to an activity being conducted on school property which has been authorized by a duly authorized official of the school; provided, however, that this exception shall not apply to a student attending such school;
(9) Persons employed in fulfilling defense contracts with the government of the United States or agencies thereof when possession of the weapon is necessary for manufacture, transport, installation, and testing under the requirements of such contract;
(10) Those employees of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles when specifically designated and authorized in writing by the members of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to carry a weapon;
(11) The Attorney General and those members of his or her staff whom he or she specifically authorizes in writing to carry a weapon;
(12) Probation supervisors employed by and under the authority of the Department of Corrections pursuant to Article 2 of Chapter 8 of Title 42, known as the 'State-wide Probation Act,' when specifically designated and authorized in writing by the director of the Division of Probation;
(13) Public safety directors of municipal corporations;
(14) State and federal trial and appellate judges;
(15) United States attorneys and assistant United States attorneys;
(16) Clerks of the superior courts; or
(17) Teachers and other school personnel who are otherwise authorized to possess or carry weapons, provided that any such weapon is in a locked compartment of a motor vehicle or one which is in a locked container in or a locked firearms rack which is on a motor vehicle.
(d)(1) This Code section shall not prohibit any person who resides or works in a business or is in the ordinary course transacting lawful business or any person who is a visitor of such resident located within a school safety zone from carrying, possessing, or having under such person´s control a weapon within a school safety zone; provided, however, it shall be unlawful for any such person to carry, possess, or have under such person´s control while at a school building or school function or on school property, a school bus, or other transportation furnished by the school any weapon or explosive compound, other than fireworks the possession of which is regulated by Chapter 10 of Title 25.
(2) Any person who violates this subsection shall be subject to the penalties specified in subsection (b) of this Code section.
(3) This subsection shall not be construed to waive or alter any legal requirement for possession of weapons or firearms otherwise required by law.
(e) It shall be no defense to a prosecution for a violation of this Code section that:
(1) School was or was not in session at the time of the offense;
(2) The real property was being used for other purposes besides school purposes at the time of the offense; or
(3) The offense took place on a school vehicle.
(f) In a prosecution under this Code section, a map produced or reproduced by any municipal or county agency or department for the purpose of depicting the location and boundaries of the area on or within 1,000 feet of the real property of a school board or a private or public elementary or secondary school that is used for school purposes or within 1,000 feet of any campus of any public or private technical school, vocational school, college, university, or institution of postsecondary education, or a true copy of the map, shall, if certified as a true copy by the custodian of the record, be admissible and shall constitute prima-facie evidence of the location and boundaries of the area, if the governing body of the municipality or county has approved the map as an official record of the location and boundaries of the area. A map approved under this Code section may be revised from time to time by the governing body of the municipality or county. The original of every map approved or revised under this subsection or a true copy of such original map shall be filed with the municipality or county and shall be maintained as an official record of the municipality or county. This subsection shall not preclude the prosecution from introducing or relying upon any other evidence or testimony to establish any element of this offense. This subsection shall not preclude the use or admissibility of a map or diagram other than the one which has been approved by the municipality or county.
(g) A county school board may adopt regulations requiring the posting of signs designating the areas within 1,000 feet of school boards and private or public elementary and secondary schools as 'Weapon-free and Violence-free School Safety Zones.'

[GCSInc]

In Georgia, Riflery is a Varsity Sport, and falls under the authority of the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) http://www.ghsa.net/riflery. (I received additional information from the GHSA State Riflery Coordinator)

GHSA Constitution & By-Laws have some eligibility requirements but they do not include this one. It is up to each individual school to determine any additional eligibility requirements for their activities.

<My comment> If a Team, Coach, SMI, School Administrator, chooses to discriminate against an athlete (require that they join JROTC) before they can participate in a School Varsity Sport, they do so at their own legal peril.

The rules are posted @ http://www.ghsa.net/riflery-rules-and-procedures, and a couple of SMI’s have forced the issue, causing Legal Letters to be submitted requesting the School System in question identify their policy (in writing) concerning athletes and eligibility to participate. In all cases this has resulted in the School System affirming the right to participate in Riflery, regardless of JROTC affiliation. SMI usually just tell the athletes that they want them to be in JROTC, but at least in Georgia, can't really require it.

Where we have been less successful is with Home School Athletes. There are quite a few Home Schoolers who compete in 4H, and other Riflery activities, but to date we can’t seem to get them into the County School System programs even though the parents pay taxes to cover the cost in that County. More on this later.

[NJROTC Inst]

I'd give anything to have someone at the school care about what happens on my air gun range. We have a dedicated 4 lane 10 meter range at my school. When I took over 3 years ago, there were no inventories of gear, no double locks, and almost nobody in the administration even knew we had a rifle team. We don't have access to the range after about 6PM during the week or on the weekends unless we shell out $200 for a janitor to come and unlock the building (I had keys to the pentagon, but can't have a key to my school). There are also rules about having to have staff/faculty supervision of all activities that take place on campus. I would love to have a junior air rifle or air pistol club use the range when I am not using it, but a 4 lane in the basement isn't very attractive. As for having non JROTC students shooting on the rifle team, since JROTC is considered a "club", you need to belong in order to shoot. None of our gear is FNRA gear, so we don't have those requirements either.

[an1913t]

Given the low profile that most of the clubs/ranges keep, how do you even go about finding out if any of the schools in your area have ranges or programs? I'm in the Dallas area and when I moved here several years ago, this was something I tried to research. I didn't have much success and eventually gave up my search.

[GCSInc]

SJudd@nrahq.org, vdonoho@odcmp.com, kharrington@odcmp.com,

These three addresses cover all NRA JROTC, CMP Affiliated Clubs.

That should get you about 95% for all High School Junior Shooting Sports Programs.

Good Luck!

[Hemmers]

The challenges are:
- there needs to be a positive relationship with the school district Board
- there needs to be a positive relationship with the JROTC Sr Instructor
- the club must have competent, 'certified' coaches and range safety officers that will be responsible for all activies on the range during its use by the club
- the club must have adequate liability insurance
- the club must secure its own equipment in or near the range facility
- overcoming 'fear' about 'guns' on campus (JROTC already has 'guns' on campus and transports them in and out of the HS for competitions)
- air guns are not 'fire arms' which may or may not over come 'fears' of guns on campus
- anti gun school board members, staff, media and/or parents

So, I'm in the UK, so not entirely familiar with the layout of school management in the US, but JROTC relationships should be relatively easy to forge. When I was shooting at University, we encouraged the usage of our range with the Archery club and indeed a local rifle club, precisely to keep utilisation high and ensure the uni didn't decide that they could better use the space for something else (it's harder to justify displacing two student clubs and a rent-paying club than it is to evict a single club). In many cases I would imagine it will be in the JROTC's interest for the range to be used by others when they're not using it (provided security measures are attended to).

Biggest issue sounds like getting access to buildings/property out of hours. I guess this will come down to local policy and the local area/neighbourhood - whether its necessary to lock the place down at night or whether car parks are available in the evenings, etc.

[76Olympian]

With our schools hurting for funding in these bad economic times, I never thought about having a club pay for access to the JROTC/school ranges..!!

This could be a very good win/win for both the club and the school.

As mentioned before, many JROTC senior instructors may still resist the use of what they perceive as 'their' range and be overly concerned about 'security access' by non JROTC staff.

However, I think your idea is an excellent approach and greatly appreciate the contribution.

[RobStubbs]

As mentioned before, many JROTC senior instructors may still resist the use of what they perceive as 'their' range and be overly concerned about 'security access' by non JROTC staff.

However, I think your idea is an excellent approach and greatly appreciate the contribution.

I guess they may just need to be educated as to the benefits all round. Clubs that have a decent structure and officers etc, should run the range just as well, and you can always have separate storage facilities for the different users and their kit.

Rob.

[af_one]

Not really sure what all the confusion is about. I am an AFJROTC SASI, we have a JROTC air rifle team--not funded by the school. The school also has a JV/Varsity smallbore rifle team, that I happen to be the coach of as well. JROTC air rifle is for JROTC cadets (self explanatory), the schools sb rifle team is open to any member of the high school, also self explanatory. We have a dedicated 5 lane range that I supervise for both teams due to the fact I run both programs. However, most JROTC ranges Ive seen around the country ahve been temporary,and swet up in gyms, cafeterias, clasroom etc--anywhere you can get 10 meters. I also use my gym, because its tough to accomdate 50 shooters with 5 lanes, you can easily and cheaply set up 10-15 lanes in a gym. A small amount of money for target stands, and I use a ballistic cloth for a backstock to protect the walls. All teh comercial products recommended for this were very expensive from Creedmore and Crosman etc. I found that 1050 ballistic nylon hanging freely stopped everypellet we fired, you can buy it for $19 a yard. I bought 42 feet for $275 and hang it from paracord with clips, just like a clothes line. Rather than focus on a range,go through your school and file a use of facility request for a space, gym etc and bring your stands and rifles in--You can also use a fire hall, church basement--get the idea?

[jhmartin]

JROTC air rifle is for JROTC cadets (self explanatory), the schools sb rifle team is open to any member of the high school, also self explanatory.

Wondering about the reasoning behind only having JROTC cadets in the Air program when SBR is open to all. Liability or what?
I ask because I use our Air program to start kids out (cheaper & easier to have a larger range) then move them to SBR as they get the safety, positions & mindset into place.

[76Olympian]

As far as I know Cadet Command has removed all government supplied smallbore rifles from JROTCs and replaced them with air rifles.

Numerous schools discovered that their smallbore ranges do not meet OSHA standards and would cost to much to upgrade their air handling systems. So many schools just closed down or converted their smallbore ranges to air rifle programs.

Its had a significant negative impact on the number of junior smallbore athletes and their opportunities to shoot at a NCAA college with shooting scholarships.

[jhmartin]

Mike .... I understand the excuses that Cadet Command used to remove smallbore programs.

I'm specifically interested in what reasons a school that has both, only allows JROTC cadets to shoot air, and allows all students to shoot smallbore. Is this something with the school, the JROTC program, number of instructors, cost, liability or what?

[76Olympian]

The air rifles are supplied by the Cadet Command, therefore not the property of the school and only used by JROTC cadets.

[PCU]

Cadet Command is an Army command, af_one is with an Air Force JROTC unit.

[af_one]

Mike .... I understand the excuses that Cadet Command used to remove smallbore programs.

I'm specifically interested in what reasons a school that has both, only allows JROTC cadets to shoot air, and allows all students to shoot smallbore. Is this something with the school, the JROTC program, number of instructors, cost, liability or what?

The air rifles are purchased by the Air Force to run an air rifle program which in turn is an attraction to join JROTC.
The school has had a smallbore team for 30+ years, Smallbore has a rich tradition in Pennsylvania. We have 16 schools with SB teams in wester PA. When we had a new high school built 10 years ago, the built a state of the art 5 lane range with an amazing ventilation system. Too bad its only 5 lanes. When I brought JROTC to the school 6 years ago, several members of the school board tried to remove rifle from the district. They compromised by requesting I coach the team--I reluctantly accepted due to the busy nature of the JROTC program, but I took it. It turned out to be a great feeder program to JROTC, and the JROTC air rifle team became a great feeder for the SB team.
I imagine that teh school could start an Air Rifle club, but who would fund it? Who would they compete against, most postals I am aware of are JROTC. Anyway, If I wanted too, I guess I could start a school club team,but Id rather have them join JROTC if they really want to shoot--otherwise, they could go to a local gun clu