A useful skill.
Via The Guardian:
A 15-year-old boy fires an assault rifle at human-shaped targets while walking through a desert shooting range. Whipping a pistol from a holster, another teen shoots rapidly at man-shaped targets that pop from behind barrels.
These are scenes shown in online videos from specialized summer camps around the country where children as young as nine years old fire assault-style guns and ammunition as they learn practical shooting, a controversial sport that mimics combat situations. Target shooting, in which participants fire low-caliber guns at round paper targets, has long been a staple of American summer camps. Unlike regular target shooting, however, practical shooters fire semi-automatic assault rifles, high capacity pistols and shotguns, often at human-shaped targets.
The summer camps are an introduction for children to the growing sport of practical shooting. The sport’s largest governing body in this country, the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA), counts more than 25,000 members and matches are held regularly around the world. The group’s membership has increased from about 19,000 members in 2010.
The USPSA has been offering scholarships for the summer shooting camps for the last three years as part of an effort to attract younger members. “There is a real organizational need to revitalize and grow USPSA membership within a younger demographic,” the USPSA leadership wrote in an internal memo available online. Mike Foley, president of the USPSA, declined to comment.
Some gun control advocates say combat-style shooting sports, including practical shooting, are too violent for children at a time when US gun violence and mass shootings are on the rise.[…]
Practical shooting advocates say that teaching children about guns makes them safer in a country where there are more than 200 million firearms owned by civilians. “If my kids came upon a situation at their school where the teacher lay down a firearm on the desk they would be the first to guard it and not touch it,” said David Power, one of the organizers of the 2A Heritage Junior Camps.
Aside from teaching shooting skills, the camps are intended to get more children interested in guns. Applicants to the MGM camp must write an essay about “how the second amendment to the US constitution applies to you today, to this training class”.