Boy Scouts Get Their Bullets (65,000 of them)

[Rod Walker]

http://journalstar.com/news/local/boy-scouts-get-their-bullets/article_bf20e769-1acd-5ff5-b0e8-8d883af9da5a.html



Boy Scouts: Fire away.

Three months ago, local Scout leaders thought a shortage of bullets might force them to teach about 1,000 campers how to shoot and handle firearms with air guns instead of .22 caliber rifles. So they asked for donations, aimed at bagging 24,000 rounds by the time Camp Cornhusker started. Gun owners bombarded them with a fusillade -- more than 65,000 bullets from donors as far away as Florida. An Iowa man gave more than 10,000 rounds, said Jerad Reimers, Cornhusker Council district director.

The Cornhusker Council not only ended its Great Bullet Drought of 2013; administrators have enough rounds to teach safe shooting for the next three years, he said. “We were just happy to see people still believe scouting is relevant,” Reimers said, adding that learning to handle a gun right is “an absolute necessity.” William Cover, the council's program director for camps, agrees. “We in America have a culture that does involve firearms. We want to make sure our young people are instructed in their proper and safe usage,” Cover said.

Practicing with BB guns just isn't the same, even if they look like the real McCoy, Reimers said. A Scout won't treat the shooting experience the same way, because it's not. “It's not quite gonna be the same to him,” said Eric Hayward, 16, who's an assistant at Camp Cornhusker's shotgun and rifle range. “It's gonna be more to the camper if he gets an actual chance to shoot a gun as opposed to a training aid that just looks nice.” In late March, local Boy Scouts had a quarter of the rounds they needed to make it through their summer camps, and less than 10 percent of what they have now. Reimers said he tried to order 15,000 rounds early this year through typical channels -- wholesalers such as Scheels or Cabela's -- but struck out again and again.

Gun owners stockpiled ammunition after the Sandy Hook school shooting in December and President Barack Obama's call for new gun control laws. “It seems no matter who we contact, the answer is the same: 'We don't have any now. We don't know when we will get more. We will not sell you the amount you require, or any large quantity for that matter, and we are not taking back orders,'” the council's website said in March. Even if Reimer had found a supplier who could have hooked him up with the number of rounds the Scouts needed this summer, higher prices would have gobbled the entire program budget.

So early in March, Reimers and other council leaders called on local gun owners for help. They got 1,500 rounds in the first few weeks before their story hit the wires and appeared in newspapers across the country. Troop 256 Scoutmaster Kevin Potratz said he doesn't own any guns, so his two sons wouldn't have learned about shooting and handling them safely it if hadn't been for Scouting. “If you don't touch them and don't have experience with them, you kinda miss something,” Potratz said, adding that learning how to handle guns is a key part of the Boy Scouts experience.

“Knowing about firearms is just good citizenship.”

[msongs]

1. how about a legal age limit for gun use, being well-regulated and all nt

[oneshooter]

2. What would you suggest as a minimum age?

[Lizzie Poppet]

6. Well...there ARE age limits for gun purchases.

21 for rifles and shotguns, 18 for handguns.

I'm not sure I see any point to enacting laws to regulate use by age. Even if it were a "one size fits all" situation (that is all kids arrived at the point where they can responsibly participate in shooting at the same age), such a regulation might be the least-enforceable gun control law ever passed. And that's saying something...

[NickB79]

9. There are already plenty of age limits for hunting with firearms

http://www.the-deer-hunting-guide.com/info-guide/young-deer-hunters-minimum-age-requirements/

Most states require teenagers to hunt in the presence of an adult.

[Igel]

10. Don't think those kids are in the militia.

It's the militia that the Constitution says needs to be well-regulated.

The militia should be well-regulated to ensure the security of a free State.

Having a right to bear arms just helps make sure the militia is well-regulated.

[tritsofme]

11. Interesting opinion, but Heller is the law.

[aikoaiko]

3. Shooting 22lr with rifles was how I first learned to shoot in Scouts.

Thanks for a nice story.

[d_r]

4. good news

thanks for posting

[SCUBANOW]

5. Good for them.

I learned to shoot several years back at scout camp, good times. Lots of life long friends made at camp.

[Brickbat]

7. Good. My son will be working on his riflery badge at camp later this summer.

Here's hoping his camp isn't facing the same shortage.

[Pab Sungenis]

8. Good to hear.

I learned how to shoot and firearm safety in the Scouts.

[Bazinga]

12. I'm a proud member of the dime club

My scout camp rifle shooting merit badge counselor required five shots inside a quarter at 25 ft. I was a proud 13-year old boy when mine fit in a dime.

I know they're catching a lot of flack right now, but BSA makes better men.

[ileus]

13. I suppose that's a little good news for the scouts...

as for me I can never find 22 on the shelf....

[Rod Walker]

14. I bought around 2,500 rounds of CCI .22 LR (a mixture of Velocitors and subsonic) back in September.

As I recall, it ran around $180. These days (on Gunbroker, anyway) that would cost about $600.

[TheMightyFavog]

15. And instead of ramping up production to meet demend...

The ammo manufacturers are taking advantage of the NRA-induced paranoia triggering all the panic buying and laughing all the way to the bank.

[Rod Walker]

16. Last I checked, ammo production *had* been ramped up.

http://www.hornady.com/support/availability

Why can’t you make more? Ramp up production? Turn on all the machines?

We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years. We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that – please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.

We are producing as much as we can; much more than last year, which was a lot more than the year before, etc. No one wants to ship more during this time than we do.

[X_Digger]

17. Why yes, ammo producers are intentionally not making more product that they could immediately sell!

Umm.. wait.. did you even think about what you wrote before you hit 'post'?

[Bolo Boffin]

18. Why do they need all of these bullets???? They are stockpiling for the upcoming

gay wars, where gay scouts mow down all the straight white Christian men that won't bow to their homosexual agenda!!!!

/wingnut

[X_Digger]

19. 1,000 campers x 24 bullets per camper = 24,000 rounds

Teaching gun safety and marksmanship takes ammunition.

At 24,000 rounds per year, they have enough on hand for the next three years.

[Bolo Boffin]

20. I was singing that to the tune of "OMG FEMA's Buying Bullets." n/t