Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

[Administrator]

Church Cancels Teen Gun Giveaway

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference.

Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event's organizers was unable to attend.

The church’s youth pastor, Bob Ross, said it’s a way of trying to encourage young people to attend the event. The church expected hundreds of teenagers from as far away as Canada.

“We have 21 hours of preaching and teaching throughout the week,” Ross said.

A video on the church Web site shows the shooting competition from last year’s conference. A gun giveaway was part of the event last year. This year, organizers included it in their marketing.

“I don’t want people thinking ‘My goodness, we’re putting a weapon in the hand of somebody that doesn’t respect it who are then going to go out and kill,'” said Ross. “That’s not at all what we’re trying to do.

Read the rest of the story written by KOCO TV News by clicking here (http://www.koco.com/news/16860079/detail.html).

[XLR8R]

IMO, since the intended recipient was to be a youth, the gun chosen should've been bolt-action - besides being generally viewed as more of a PC/family friendly firearm, I think it's important to teach children the value of a single bullet.

[Administrator]

IMO, since the intended recipient was to be a youth, the gun chosen should've been bolt-action - besides being generally viewed as more of a PC/family friendly firearm, I think it's important to teach children the value of a single bullet.

Hmmmm, ya know, that's a good point. That is how I was first taught to shoot. With a bolt action. Interesting post.

[cbrahs]

My church back home has a shooting day every year. It is a fun competition with the members (and non members show up too).


I also learned with a .22 bolt action (other than the bb gun when I was young). I started my son off with a bb gun (age 4) teach both of my kids EXTREME weapons safety. I got my son a Rosi rifle (.22, .243 & 20ga just change the barrels) when he was 7. My ex freaked out until I told her about the safety I have been teaching them and they both respect my guns and theirs. They KNOW what a bullet can do. My theory is that I don't want my kids to be a statistic and know what to do if they are at a friends house and some kid starts to play with a gun. My kids will know to leave, call me (or their mom).

[uptime]

Things have sure changed! As a kid in grade school (in AR), we all carried pocket knives (including some big one's). During recess, we played games with them. For some reason, it never occurred to us to use them as weapons. Then, years later, my high school son was awarded a Remington 1100 12 Gauge shotgun and a Winchester semi-auto 22 for selling the most fruit in a school project (in VA).

I know there is no going back but the truth is only a small segment of the population is to blame for the violence we are seeing today. Hunting is one of the most effective ways to teach kids how to safely use guns and how not to harm other people.

[Administrator]

I wish we could go back to those days, back when life was a lot more simple. It's amazing to me how the world has changed, and in such a negative way. I won't go into the politics of it all, but it's a sad thing to see.

[Gunlovingvet]

Indeed as a youth group leader we let the kids do paint pellets. You would have thought we were teaching them how to murder from some peoples response.

[Administrator]

Yep. Heck, I remember going to summer camp as a kid. I was 10 years old and we were learning how to handle a .22. Did target shooting and all kinds of stuff. I know that summer camp still exists. I wonder if they teach those things anymore.