The MSU Shooting Sports Team provides the opportunity for students and faculty members to practice and compete in shooting competitions using various programs. They include Olympic Air Pistol, Scholastic Action Shooting Program pistol, International Air Rifle, Precision Pistol Bullseye, and precision 3-Position Smallbore Rifle.
For Marina Malone, a junior studying interpersonal communications, the team allows her to specialize in the shotgun and provides a sense of community.
Malone said, “For me, it was just one way to enjoy shooting and have something to do. I knew I didn’t want to do any sports in college, so this was one way for me to meet new people, make some good friends and share some common interests.”
Members meet weekly to improve shooting skills. Carley Allison, a senior majoring in environmental engineering, specializes in the air rifle and 22 long rifle. This allows her to put her focus on something outside of school.
Allison said, “In shooting, at least for rifles and pistols, you want to be very still. You don’t want your heart rate to be very high because your heart rate can actually mess with your shot. When you’re in position, heartbeat makes you move a little bit.
“Focusing on your breathing really helps with that because it lowers your heart rate, decreases stress in general life, and makes you calmer.”
Members attend competitions at the local and national level. According to Samantha Star, a senior majoring in criminal justice and psychology, members find success in the sport regardless of experience, gender or age.
Star said, “One of the really nice things about competitive shooting is it’s something that you pick up and you get out of it what you put into it. Jordyn Hughes had been on our team maybe two or three years now and she’s one of our best shooters. That kind of speaks for itself. She’s qualified for Junior Olympics and Fort Benning Nationals, which are hard matches to qualify for and that’s without prior years of experience.”
Regardless of experience, all members attend safety classes and adhere to safety guidelines. Allison began shooting when she was 12 through the 4-H Shooting Sports Program and now shoots for the MSU team. She attended safety training throughout both experiences.
Allison said, “Before I ever picked up a gun, I’ve always had people very explicitly go through a safety debriefing … Even though I came to MSU having that extra experience, before I was ever allowed on the range I had to go through a safety briefing once more to make sure I knew what I was doing. So, we don’t go into shooting just willy-nilly, throwing it everywhere. We know that the gun has to be kept in a position to ensure that it is not unsafe for other people around us.”
The increased violence over the past year, including the Atlanta and Boulder mass-shootings, sparked debate over gun control laws. Star studied in Australia in 2018 and she studied their legal system, police officer training, gun control laws and how those differ from the U.S.
Star said, “If people educated themselves on gun laws a little better, it wouldn’t be such an argument and maybe a conversation. Right now, especially after some of the shootings, it’s just a big ‘guns are bad.’ I could go on and on about how cities with strict gun control laws aren’t very effective. I went to Australia to study their gun control, the buyback program and really strict gun control. If you read into any of the scholarly articles on it, it really wasn’t that effective. I took the time to educate myself and find the facts rather than just listen to what some of the media is pushing out without all the resources.”
According to Star, mandatory firearm education for users should be part of the solution.
Star said, “A mandatory safety class with the purchase of a firearm is never going to hurt anyone. For one, it’s going to make sure they don’t have an accidental injury. Two, they’re aware of the law and some one is watching you go through it.”
Affordability of this education is a roadblock for some firearm users.
Star said, “One thing I’m unhappy with MSU about is we started with a $75 Concealed Pistol License class and now it’s $125. That’s just for the class. To get the CPL is another $100 with $15 of fingerprinting. That’s almost $250 for just a license. I feel like that would solve a lot of issues if people had the opportunity for education.”
Marone said firearm education is potentially life saving.
“Not only being able to have a firearm but being able to take a class, know how to use it, feel more confident if the case comes to where you’d have to use it. Without the class, personally, if I didn’t know what to do I would probably panic and not pull it out just because I didn’t want to risk anything or escalate a situation. That education is definitely important along with the firearm.”
