John: For decades, using and
owning guns has sparked debate
in America.
But every year millions of
Americans use guns
recreationally, not just for
hunting, but also for target
sports like skeet and
trapshooting.
Special corresponent Meggan
Thompson tells us that a growing
number of young people are
jumping in to shooting sports.
We should warn you that this
story includes the sound of
gunfire.
♪♪
>> It is 8:00 on a June morning
in western Minnesota.
After paying respects to the
American flag, hundreds of high
school athletes head out for one
of their last competitions of
the season.
[Gunfire]
>> They're facing off in
Minnesota's trap shooting
championship.
Over the course of nine days,
more than 8,000 teenagers will
compete.
Across the country, youth
shooting sports have exploded in
popularity over the last decade.
>> Got a cc15 right here.
>> Organizers claim it's now one
of the fastest-growing high
school sports and that this is
the world's largest shooting
sport event.
>> Do the best you can do.
Have a good time.
>> Randal baker and Michelle
jacklitch coach the 28-member
team from wayzata high school,
one of the best in the state.
The conditions are good today -
almost no wind.
Baker says the team's off to a
good start.
>> Good enough to be on top at
the end of the day.
>> Wayzata high school serves a
well-to-do suburban area west of
Minneapolis.
Many of the team's families hunt
or already have guns at home.
We attended the team's last
practice before the big
competition.
>> Before you call for the
target, that gun should be on
your face for half a second.
>> There are three main shooting
sports involving a shotgun and a
clay target.
Today the team is practicing
"Trap."
A squad of five shooters stands
at stations on the trap field.
A voice-activated thrower placed
16 yards away flings the bright
Orange clay discs into the air.
>> Right when the person before
me fires, I take a deep breath,
put it up, exhale partly, hold
it, and I'll call pull.
>> Pull!
>> Today, and during
competition, they'll get 100
shots.
>> I love, love trap shooting.
I can't even express it.
It's a totally different feeling
getting up on that line.
>> Rising senior xena heimbecher
has been on the team since
seventh grade.
Unlike most school sports, girls
and boys shoot together,
although they're scored
separately.
On this team, some of the
strongest shooters are the
girls.
>> It allows me to do something
that most people don't expect.
Most people don't even know what
it is.
>> It's not about whether you're
female or male.
You can be tall, you can be
short.
That's one of the beautiful
things about this sport.
>> I'm more like the nerdy gamer
kind of person.
>> Rising senior Allison plymate
is another one of the team's
talented shooters.
She says the sport's helped
teach her to be mentally strong.
>> A big part of it is just
keeping in the right headspace
and staying focused.
I used to be a sore loser, and
now I've learned to brush it off
and keep going, which is exactly
what happened today.
>> After missing four shots in
her third round, she shook it
off and shot a perfect fourth
round.
>> Our goal is to get as many
kids as possible outdoors.
>> John Nelson is the president
of the U.S.A. Clay target
league, which organizes the
competitions.
In the early 2000's, the
previous president, Jim sable,
noticed the average age at his
local gun club was over 55, so
he started teams at three local
high schools, including wayzata.
Soon there were dozens of teams
across Minnesota.
>> The high school league
started in 2012 and then, with
funding from cabela's, the
outdoor recreation retailer,
John Nelson and sable began
launching clay target teams in
other states.
>> In our early days, there was
a lot of pushback simply in
saying, thank you, no thanks.
And we'll close the door real
quick after you leave.
>> And why?
>> Well, I think the perception
of kids, guns and schools, that
that is a negative perception.
But it's also we're talking to
an audience that doesn't know
much about shooting sports.
>> But over the last ten years
Nelson has navigated that
pushback.
The high school league now
operates in 35 states.
This past spring, there were
more than 1500 teams and 34,000
athletes.
Hundreds more compete in college
and homeschool programs.
>> We've had more than a quarter
of a million student athletes
through this program.
And we have never had a reported
injury.
>> That's because, Nelson says,
safety is taken extremely
seriously.
No one can participate until
they've completed a gun safety
certification program.
On each field at wayzata's
practice, a parent-volunteer
watches to make sure the
students are following the
rules.
>> Unloaded.
Uncased.
Pointed down is important.
>> Recent graduate Madi Schultz
is wayzata's top shooter.
>> This is your action.
>> When the action is open, the
gun is unable to fire.
>> The only time we close it is
when it's actually, it's our
turn to shoot.
>> Schultz says, athletes must
carry the gun straight up or
straight down, never pointed at
a person.
They must wear ear protection,
safety glasses and closed-toe
shoes.
Guns are prohibited on school
grounds, and all practices are
held at off-campus gun ranges.
>> Safety is the first priority
today.
>> Safety protocols were on full
display at the big competition,
but evidence of America's
political battle over gun rights
was not.
Nelson says the league makes a
point of staying out of
politics.
But one the event's 20 sponsors
was the national rifle
association, which made
donations worth more than $2.7
million to youth and college
programs across the country in
2021.
The NRA's political arm is known
for aggressive lobbying against
virtually all gun-control and
its involvement here doesn't sit
well with Kris brown, the
president of Brady, one of the
nation's oldest gun-control
advocacy groups.
>> For an organization like the
NRA that is curbed to more guns
in all hands, regardless of the
consequences, attempting simply
to arm more young people with
firearms, or are we actually
allowing young people to be
informed about the true risks,
and benefits of firearms.
>> Brown says she's not opposed
to youth shooting sports.
But she points to CDC data
showing that firearms are now
the leading cause of death for
young people, accounting for
about 20% of childhood deaths in
2020 and 2021.
>> The reality is a gun in the
home, including something that
you take home from this kind of
sporting event is much more
likely to harm you or someone in
your household than to be able
to be used in self-defense.
And the NRA does not well
communicate that risk.
>> In an email to "Pbs news
weekend," an NRA spokesman
called safety the "Bedrock" of
its mission, adding that its
goal "Is to support the future
of the shooting sports and
traditions."
By promoting this sport and
having more kids taking guns
home with them, how is that not
making the situation more
dangerous?
>> Our goal is to is to try to
get those kids to understand how
dangerous a firearm can be.
If they are in an environment
where a firearm comes to, I can
assure you that one of the kids
in our league will make sure
that that firearm is unloaded.
>> I can understand the
controversy.
Absolutely.
>> Xena heimbecher says she's
gotten some strong reactions
when she tells people she's on a
shooting team.
>> I think a lot of that is a
lack of understanding.
There's so much more to it than
the gun aspect of it.
It's the team, it's the mental,
it's the physical, it's the
resilience of shooting and
coming back and showing up.
>> And that's exactly what
heimbecher and her teammates did
at the big competition.
As the long day finally wound
down, they anxiously waited for
the final results to come in.
>> Alright.
Conference 2, first place,
female average goes to Madi
Schultz of wayzata high school.
[Applause]
>> Schultz was the only female
to shoot a perfect 100, a feat
that earned her 3 medals.
Xena heimbecher earned a medal.
Allison plymate too.
And the team as a whole won two
first-place trophies, finishing
the day exhausted, but full of
pride.
For "Pbs news weekend," I'm
Megan Thompson in Alexandria,
Minnesota.
♪♪