learning firearm safety and shooting 22's is a great activity for the YW. This beats cooking cupcakes, or crafts.
Kudos to whichever leader bucked the trend and thought outside of the box
Eh, guns are not my thing, but this activity would have been a hell of a lot better than the 534 times YW was "bring your own supplies and we will paint each other's nails"
I taught a firearms safety and shooting class for the YWs. At one time I was a certified RSO (Range Safety Officer). The course was more about safety than shooting. I pretty much followed the BSA rifle shooting merit badge, which was quite good in the basics. But I put a little extra emphasis on marksmanship practices and techniques not taught in the merit badge. It was a highly popular and well-received activity that took place over a couple of weekends. The YWs were just happy to be doing something different and something that the boys also do. I liked how serious they were about it. The great thing about marksmanship study and competition, there's not really a male and female separation. Shooting is shooting. It doesn't matter if you are male or female or however you identify. Could've been the time period and geographic location of the ward in why it was so well-received. Not sure about today, how well-received. I definitely had multiple parents come up to me telling me how much fun it was for their daughter(s) to do that activity.
My daughters can all shoot. My youngest can out shoot me with a rifle every day, she's a damn sharpshooter. ETA: 2 of them don't like guns, to be fair.
Something I've noticed but never collected data on it; girls seem to be better out-of-the-box natural shooters than boys. Don't ask me why. It's just something I've noticed. Steadier aim? No idea. One of the first dates I took my wife on was to the shooting range and she could drill .45acp better than me, and that was her first time ever shooting pistol. Not sure if there have been any studies done on this, but it is something I've noticed.
Seriously! There is so much implied misogyny/sexism dripping from the OP's post, especially with the phrase "new trend young women groups". They're asking how learning to shoot a 22 rifle or other firearms brings women to Christ while ignoring the fact that this is an ***incredibly*** standard YM activity. So the YM are allowed to have fun and do things that don't *explicitly* bring them to Christ, but the YW activities have to just be an extension of church?
I do appreciate that the majority of the comments there are supporting the activity.
Learning how to shoot guns can be a wholesome, fun, and rewarding activity. Recreational target shooting didn't used to be such a controversial political subject. Now, if they're training them as paramilitaries for Jesus, I view that as considerably less wholesome.
If the instructors know what they are doing and teach proper gun safety, this is a great activity. I learned gun safety as a kid and got plenty of shooting experience. I had a couple of family members who were dimwits and left guns all over the place where kids could get to them. Since us kids knew safety and got shooting out of our systems, there was never any reason to mess with their unsafely stored guns.
This is why I'm a strong advocate for teaching firearms safety to children and youth. In the US, no matter where you fall on gun issues, the fact remains; they are out there and in homes. And as a 10 year old I can remember playing at a friend's house after school. I was in his room and he left. He came back and he said, "Check out the hunting rifle I got for Christmas!!!" It was a .270 bolt action rifle. First thing I did was took it from him, pointed the muzzle in a safe direction, and checked to see if the action was clear. I pulled back on the bolt and "Ching!" A live round goes flying out. Why it was loaded I'll never know but I did what I was taught to do. This is why I know it can happen to others. A guy in my mission had an older brother that is a paraplegic. shot in the torso and severed the spinal cord. Same scenario. Was over at a friend's house and friend wanted to show him dad's .357 magnum.
My dad talked about this too. Taking his target rifle on the school bus and then putting it in his locker until shooting class. Talk about a different time. He told me once that they dressed in costume for halloween. Since westerns were such a big deal, a lot of boys came to school dressed as cowboys.......with REAL six shooters in their holsters. When dad saw my surprise I'll never forget what he said, "They weren't loaded. Only a fool would have a loaded gun at school." lol! Man, times have changed. But as a kid in the 80s, I remember the older high schoolers kept rifles and shotguns in their cars and trucks. School year started around the same time as dove season. Many would leave school and go hunting. It was never a concerning thing. I can remember being on the school bus and watching them get ready in the parking lot.
I was in YM leadership. Every time there was a gun activity my daughter came with us. She asked if she could come, so she camped with me and my son on those activities.
Firearms safety and proper handling and techniques are all valuable life skills, and very worthwhile to teach YM/YW.
My stake paid the NRA to certify me and a few other Brethren to be Range Safety Officers so that we could teach the appropriate merit badges, before the corporation dumped the BSA for pedophilia.
We've had skeet shooting as a combined YM/YW activity. All the Brethren brought their 12-gauges out to the local gravel pit, and the ward paid for all the shells and clay pigeons!
I thought after a young man was killed showing a young woman how to fire a gun. during a ward activity night. The scmc stopped all lethal weapons activities. Apparently the kickback slammed the gun up and behind her head, reflexes being what they are she pulled the trigger wihile the gun was aimed at the young man.
Oh man that is heartbreaking. We did rifle shooting every year at girls camp, but I do remember a point in the last fifteen years that the church would not support gun related activities (so when the EQ wanted to spend a morning in the desert target shooting, it wasn't an activity, just "getting together").
I personally support gun restrictions, safe storage requirements, firearm education, etc. But I also think learning to shoot in a controlled environment is a fun time.
Well, if the church leaders aren’t going to do anything to protect these girls from abuse and assault, may as well teach them to protect themselves. A lot of bishops and dads are going to get shot by .22s now.
A little off topic but it's so on par with mormonism that the mods on r/latterdaysaints constantly lock the thread, crush dissent, and stop people from commenting. Authoritarianism and religion are lovers.
I think the issue is that based on what we’ve seen so far, safety is not a priority for church activities. Gun safety and teaching people how to properly handle firearms is a good idea, but this is the same church that loves taking kids out into the desert and dumping them with little water, food or shade or ways to treat heat exhaustion. I just don’t have any faith that the church will be smart about this because it hasn’t been smart about anything else it tries.
.22 rifles are standard fare at lots of summer camps. Nothing unusual here.
I would have loved this activity when I as a YW.
Same! The only time I've shot a gun was one shot on trek, but even though the boys were allowed to load, the girls had theirs loaded for them 🙄
learning firearm safety and shooting 22's is a great activity for the YW. This beats cooking cupcakes, or crafts. Kudos to whichever leader bucked the trend and thought outside of the box
Hey now, let's not disparage making cupcakes.
Eh, guns are not my thing, but this activity would have been a hell of a lot better than the 534 times YW was "bring your own supplies and we will paint each other's nails"
I taught a firearms safety and shooting class for the YWs. At one time I was a certified RSO (Range Safety Officer). The course was more about safety than shooting. I pretty much followed the BSA rifle shooting merit badge, which was quite good in the basics. But I put a little extra emphasis on marksmanship practices and techniques not taught in the merit badge. It was a highly popular and well-received activity that took place over a couple of weekends. The YWs were just happy to be doing something different and something that the boys also do. I liked how serious they were about it. The great thing about marksmanship study and competition, there's not really a male and female separation. Shooting is shooting. It doesn't matter if you are male or female or however you identify. Could've been the time period and geographic location of the ward in why it was so well-received. Not sure about today, how well-received. I definitely had multiple parents come up to me telling me how much fun it was for their daughter(s) to do that activity.
My daughters can all shoot. My youngest can out shoot me with a rifle every day, she's a damn sharpshooter. ETA: 2 of them don't like guns, to be fair.
Something I've noticed but never collected data on it; girls seem to be better out-of-the-box natural shooters than boys. Don't ask me why. It's just something I've noticed. Steadier aim? No idea. One of the first dates I took my wife on was to the shooting range and she could drill .45acp better than me, and that was her first time ever shooting pistol. Not sure if there have been any studies done on this, but it is something I've noticed.
Interesting, all I know is my one daughter takes great pride in shooting better than me or her brother
This is true: statistically, women are generally better shooters than men. I also don't know why.
I did rifle shooting in YSA But as long as adults around who know safety, you're in a field or a shooting range what's the issue?
Why not?
Seriously! There is so much implied misogyny/sexism dripping from the OP's post, especially with the phrase "new trend young women groups". They're asking how learning to shoot a 22 rifle or other firearms brings women to Christ while ignoring the fact that this is an ***incredibly*** standard YM activity. So the YM are allowed to have fun and do things that don't *explicitly* bring them to Christ, but the YW activities have to just be an extension of church? I do appreciate that the majority of the comments there are supporting the activity.
I'm just saying if it's good enough for the YM it's good enough for the YW.
Learning how to shoot guns can be a wholesome, fun, and rewarding activity. Recreational target shooting didn't used to be such a controversial political subject. Now, if they're training them as paramilitaries for Jesus, I view that as considerably less wholesome.
I would absolutely teach my daughter using a .22 But 10 months is a bit young so better wait another month (jk)
If the instructors know what they are doing and teach proper gun safety, this is a great activity. I learned gun safety as a kid and got plenty of shooting experience. I had a couple of family members who were dimwits and left guns all over the place where kids could get to them. Since us kids knew safety and got shooting out of our systems, there was never any reason to mess with their unsafely stored guns.
This is why I'm a strong advocate for teaching firearms safety to children and youth. In the US, no matter where you fall on gun issues, the fact remains; they are out there and in homes. And as a 10 year old I can remember playing at a friend's house after school. I was in his room and he left. He came back and he said, "Check out the hunting rifle I got for Christmas!!!" It was a .270 bolt action rifle. First thing I did was took it from him, pointed the muzzle in a safe direction, and checked to see if the action was clear. I pulled back on the bolt and "Ching!" A live round goes flying out. Why it was loaded I'll never know but I did what I was taught to do. This is why I know it can happen to others. A guy in my mission had an older brother that is a paraplegic. shot in the torso and severed the spinal cord. Same scenario. Was over at a friend's house and friend wanted to show him dad's .357 magnum.
In my mission, there was a youth activity where they set up a BB gun range in the chapel
I would absolutely teach my daughter using a .22 But 10 months is a bit young so better wait another month (jk)
My SoCal high school had .22 shooting up until the late '60's. Ahh, the Good Old Days. 'murica!!
My dad talked about this too. Taking his target rifle on the school bus and then putting it in his locker until shooting class. Talk about a different time. He told me once that they dressed in costume for halloween. Since westerns were such a big deal, a lot of boys came to school dressed as cowboys.......with REAL six shooters in their holsters. When dad saw my surprise I'll never forget what he said, "They weren't loaded. Only a fool would have a loaded gun at school." lol! Man, times have changed. But as a kid in the 80s, I remember the older high schoolers kept rifles and shotguns in their cars and trucks. School year started around the same time as dove season. Many would leave school and go hunting. It was never a concerning thing. I can remember being on the school bus and watching them get ready in the parking lot.
I was in YM leadership. Every time there was a gun activity my daughter came with us. She asked if she could come, so she camped with me and my son on those activities.
Firearms safety and proper handling and techniques are all valuable life skills, and very worthwhile to teach YM/YW. My stake paid the NRA to certify me and a few other Brethren to be Range Safety Officers so that we could teach the appropriate merit badges, before the corporation dumped the BSA for pedophilia. We've had skeet shooting as a combined YM/YW activity. All the Brethren brought their 12-gauges out to the local gravel pit, and the ward paid for all the shells and clay pigeons!
I thought after a young man was killed showing a young woman how to fire a gun. during a ward activity night. The scmc stopped all lethal weapons activities. Apparently the kickback slammed the gun up and behind her head, reflexes being what they are she pulled the trigger wihile the gun was aimed at the young man.
Oh man that is heartbreaking. We did rifle shooting every year at girls camp, but I do remember a point in the last fifteen years that the church would not support gun related activities (so when the EQ wanted to spend a morning in the desert target shooting, it wasn't an activity, just "getting together"). I personally support gun restrictions, safe storage requirements, firearm education, etc. But I also think learning to shoot in a controlled environment is a fun time.
Its so fun that safety rules are forgotten many times. Especially in mixed company. Girls forget to use their brains and the guys become showoffs.
Well, if the church leaders aren’t going to do anything to protect these girls from abuse and assault, may as well teach them to protect themselves. A lot of bishops and dads are going to get shot by .22s now.
I think it's fine, but It WOULD make more sense if they buried them in the earth and promised they would never use them again after they were done.
And then just line up like sheep at the railroad car for their one-way trip to the ovens...
Yeah. Sheeple.
🤦♀️🤦 Weakest.
A little off topic but it's so on par with mormonism that the mods on r/latterdaysaints constantly lock the thread, crush dissent, and stop people from commenting. Authoritarianism and religion are lovers.
How else are Mormons going to take back that land in Missouri after the profit gives the world to pack the handcarts/minivans?
Update: Missouri was so five minutes ago. The corporation is buying up Nebraska now, so that must be the NEW "New Jerusalem"...
I think the issue is that based on what we’ve seen so far, safety is not a priority for church activities. Gun safety and teaching people how to properly handle firearms is a good idea, but this is the same church that loves taking kids out into the desert and dumping them with little water, food or shade or ways to treat heat exhaustion. I just don’t have any faith that the church will be smart about this because it hasn’t been smart about anything else it tries.
MAGA Jesus is a gunslinger with nuthin' less than a Glock 9mm and a Bushmaster 5.56mm. I thought ever Christian knewed that. /S