School shooting in the church..

A highly popular event in school is school shootings, an after school free activity enjoyed by pupils aged 7-12 year with air rifles, in collaboration with the communal authorities here in Sweden.

Older classes 13-16 use rimfires outdoors instead, on the usual shooting ranges, but airguns is usually shot either in permanent shooting galleries in the basement or improvised ones in the regular gymnastics halls, since it's also a part of the ordinary education in sports.

Anyway...

Unfortunately our local school gymnastics hall was under renovation and therefore both the range in the basement and the opportunity to shoot in the usual hall was not possible.

What to do?

One suggestion was to uterlize the school hallways but the school was trafficked both daytime and even in the evenings for adults classes, they are also narrow and easily crowded with the usual high attendence.

But...

When our local parish reverend got wind of these circumstances he had an obvious solution - why not use the church?

After a swift consultation with the church authorities they had no objections, it's unconventional but shooting is an important youth activity and thus has a high priority.

Said and done, teachers and parents quickly arranged and improvised shooting gallery and to the relief of everyone the shooting could carry on as normal...


Keen marksmanship is needed to avoid hitting the inventory, as the beautiful altar painting..


Parents and children gathering for some afternoon shooting together.


Older pupils shoot free standing..


Red vest text "Ledare" is the shooting supervisor for this day, keeping everything in line and is also responsible for the general safety.


Some fine shooting from this little girl, but she's got her own air rifle at home and loves shooting. She's eager for next year since she can start her hunting examination education at age 13 then and also upgrade to rimfire school shooting.

What a civilised setup.
An adult positive community.

Would never happen in current UK, someone would be triggered or take offence.
The average IQ for Scandinavian countries is higher than the UK too, and it shows.

Things I would never expect to hear:

* Just shoot in front of the piano

There's a lot of faith bestowed in these photos! Respect to the church and the shooters.

The title had me concerned, but this is an example of how things could be if our society wasn’t so devoid of common sense.

It is refreshing to see shooting being held in high regard and considered as an important activity.
It certainly highlights the difference in cultures and attitudes in the youth and the adults in Sweden.

I know many British kids who would have the same respect for property and could be trusted to only aim at the targets... but, sadly, there are far too many others with considerably less regard for rules, etc. -- Namely, the ones who say, "Innit" after every sentence.

Great to see!

Are those black rests a dense foam or something similar?

This is great to see, though it would never be allowed in the UK, your country seems to have an adult view of things.

Red Dot Laser stimulator, no chance of damaging anything, good idea

Appears very cordial. Lovely!
Reminds me of my youth when dsd and I would shoot once a week at St Albans church hall Dartford Kent.

Rog5 said:

Red Dot Laser stimulator, no chance of damaging anything, good idea

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Superb for training purposes. But could these replace indoor airgun shooting entirely?

BrettMRC said:

Great to see!

Are those black rests a dense foam or something similar?

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It's lazer targets.

They are always used instead of live projectiles in sensitive improvised surroundings, to avoid the risk of accidental damage, like a stray shot or a ricochet.

KT83 said:

Superb for training purposes. But could these replace indoor airgun shooting entirely?

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Here they are only used as substitutes on those occasions when called upon due to safety.

The emphasis is always on safety here and when children have opinions about the shooting supervisors choice of using those it's either them or no shooting that day.

They are not intended to replace shooting live projectiles but a method to let the shooting continue during different circumstances.

Wing Commander said:

It is refreshing to see shooting being held in high regard and considered as an important activity.

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Since firearms is so incredibly common here and a citizens is likely to encounter them at several occasions during their lives, if not else during the compulsory conscription in the armed forces, it's like basic traffic knowledge or mastering swimming - an essential part of upbringing here, to avoid accidents.

It also teaches essential skills in a broader perspective, like discipline, self respect, courtesy and to interact with others in a calm way of cooperation, safety, a method to present an alternative option to digital recreation etc...

Shooting is hence an important tool for the upbringing of adult, caring and responsible grown ups contributing to our society.

Absolutely Brilliant, not sure if anything similar happens here other than the likes of @Wing Commander and others perhaps give time and training for such events other than clubs or ranges.
Very well done, I’m moving to Sweden

Tha

JohnnySweden said:

A highly popular event in school is school shootings, an after school free activity enjoyed by pupils aged 7-12 year with air rifles, in collaboration with the communal authorities here in Sweden.

Older classes 13-16 use rimfires outdoors instead, on the usual shooting ranges, but airguns is usually shot either in permanent shooting galleries in the basement or improvised ones in the regular gymnastics halls, since it's also a part of the ordinary education in sports.

Anyway...

Unfortunately our local school gymnastics hall was under renovation and therefore both the range in the basement and the opportunity to shoot in the usual hall was not possible.

What to do?

One suggestion was to uterlize the school hallways but the school was trafficked both daytime and even in the evenings for adults classes, they are also narrow and easily crowded with the usual high attendence.

But...

When our local parish reverend got wind of these circumstances he had an obvious solution - why not use the church?

After a swift consultation with the church authorities they had no objections, it's unconventional but shooting is an important youth activity and thus has a high priority.

Said and done, teachers and parents quickly arranged and improvised shooting gallery and to the relief of everyone the shooting could carry on as normal...

View attachment 955441
Keen marksmanship is needed to avoid hitting the inventory, as the beautiful altar painting..

View attachment 955442
Parents and children gathering for some afternoon shooting together.

View attachment 955443
Older pupils shoot free standing..

View attachment 955448
Red vest text "Ledare" is the shooting supervisor for this day, keeping everything in line and is also responsible for the general safety.

View attachment 955452
Some fine shooting from this little girl, but she's got her own air rifle at home and loves shooting. She's eager for next year since she can start her hunting examination education at age 13 then and also upgrade to rimfire school shooting.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this incredible insight into a part of education in your country, the UK should have endorsed years ago.

Most Public Schools (for some daft reason "Public Schools", so named in the UK are in the private sector) have shooting ranges and students actively encouraged to learn to shoot. Rimfire .22 weapons the usual preference.

Meanwhile State Schools neglect this side of educational development.

Thank you again.

Whitebank said:

Most Public Schools (for some daft reason "Public Schools", so named in the UK are in the private sector) have shooting ranges and students actively encouraged to learn to shoot. Rimfire .22 weapons the usual preference.

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They are called Public Schools because they are a Public Limited Company (PLC). . Very upmarket.

I went to mere private schools but we did shooting with .22 rimfire rifles from the age of 8 (early 1960s Prep school).
The training in firearms safety was very strict and thorough.
Our teacher had been a sniper during WW2, and he set very high standards and very high expectations of all the boys under his supervision. . . He was a inspiration to us which has lasted to the present day.

It's a shame more mainstream schools don't engage in shooting. . It is more disciplined and safer than playing football.

As an aside the London office building I worked in for many years had a small-bore rifle range in the basement as part of the sports & social facilities (along with a sports hall, theatre and swimming pool). Built in the late '50s and sadly demolished 10 years ago.

Imagine encouraging commuters to bring firearms into London now!

Wing Commander said:

They are called Public Schools because they are a Public Limited Company (PLC)

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It's a centuries-old term based on taking pupils regardless of where they live, following a particular religion, having a family affiliation with a particular trade or profession, etc. Nowadays they're almost always registered charities, run on a non-profit basis.

BTB 500 said:

As an aside the London office building I worked in for many years had a small-bore rifle range in the basement as part of the sports & social facilities (along with a sports hall, theatre and swimming pool). Built in the late '50s and sadly demolished 10 years ago.

Imagine encouraging commuters to bring firearms into London now!

Click to expand...

I’m not saying what I’m thinking !