Bree Staves, a sophomore at Tupper Lake Middle School at the time, launches an arrow at wildlife targets on the lawn in front of the L.P. Quinn Elementary School in 2014. (Enterprise photo — Shaun Kittle)

TUPPER LAKE — A bill proposed by a New York City Assemblywoman, which would eliminate archery, trap shooting and riflery programs in public schools, is facing opposition from school officials and marksmanship instructors.

The bill was authored by Linda Rosenthal, D-Manhattan, after the Parkland, Florida, shooting, where a former student and marksmanship team member murdered 17 high school students and teachers in February. It would allow safety education to continue but bans firearms used for practice or competition from being used on school grounds.

“Marksmanship programs in public schools were once popular, but a rise in gun violence and school shootings in recent years has spurred a long overdue re-evaluation of their place in our students’ curriculum,” Rosenthal writes in her memo accompanying the bill. “Research shows that an increase in guns leads to an increase in gun injuries and deaths, whether intentional or not. To create a true, gun-free school zone we cannot allow students to possess and discharge firearms on school property.”

Tupper Lake has several archery programs that would be impacted by this bill: a National Archery in the Schools program for 7th- through 12th-graders held in the high school gym before classes in the morning, Tupper Lake Archers, an after-school elementary archery club held at the Rod and Gun Club’s range, and a two-week archery course in the high school gym and on the softball field.

The bill could affect the more than 400 students in the district who take the two-week courses as part of their gym curriculum, the dozen or so students in the NASP club and around 30 kids in Tupper Lake Archers.

It is unclear if this last one would be affected by the bill. The current language states that instructional courses can be taught, “provided that firearms are not used by students or discharged on school grounds.” If the course takes place off site but uses school resources to make the course possible, it sits in a gray area.

The Tupper Lake Rod and Gun Club has written a resolution opposing the bill that it will share with town, village and state government leaders, as well as the school district, according to club President Dave McMahon. McMahon echoed the words of many other Tupper Lake archers, saying that the sport teaches discipline, conservation and safety above all else.

“Kids that aren’t brought up and taught about [archery] are the kids that get hurt,” McMahon said.

He said the problems causing school shootings are mental illness or bullying, and schools should be focusing on improving how they handle both issues.

The schools’ business administrator, Dan Bower, will travel to Albany in the near future to, among other things, voice the district’s displeasure with the consequences of the proposed bill.

“It’s not so much that we oppose all of the bill as presented, we just want them to look at how things are working in a positive way in some districts,” Bower said. “Sometimes when somebody proposes a bill like this, it’s very broad and we’re all painted with the same type of brush.”

Bower said the archery programs are organized carefully, with instructors taking an eight-hour archery training course.

“This is completely supervised; this equipment is under lock and key,” Bower said.

McMahon pointed out that he has never heard of someone shooting up a school with a bow and arrow, acknowledging how hard that would be.

“How is there any danger in teaching them safe handling of archery equipment? That doesn’t even make sense,” Tupper Lake Archers instructor and Rod and Gun Club Secretary Ray McIntosh said.

—

Shooting on a national stage

Through the archery programs, many students from Tupper Lake have competed in national competitions in Kentucky over the years.

Bree Staves, a 2016 graduate, was one of three who qualified in the very first year of the club. She had been shooting since she was 7 years old, learning from her father and grandfather, but started pursuing the sport in earnest when the school started its program in 2012.

Unbeknownst to her, her coach, Pam Savard, put the student’s scores into a state program, a fact she found out in a phone call from Savard letting her know that she placed first in the girls middle school division.

Qualifying for nationals, Staves fundraised for the trip to Kentucky with two other Tupper Lake students and placed in the top 10 percent of the 10,000 shooters at the competition. Since then, she said, the school has had students make the trip to compete on a national stage almost every year.

“What other sports do we send to nationals every year?” Staves said. “A trip to Kentucky every year gives kids ambition, something to look forward to.”

She said archery has taught her patience and the value of sticking with something on the road to mastery.

“It’s being able to grow, basically, realizing that it’s not something that you’re gonna get into right away and be amazing at. It’s something that you have to work hard for,” Staves said. “The archery program had a huge impact on my life and a bunch of other kids’ lives. The kids that do get into it absolutely love it, and I’d hate to see that taken away from them.”

The archery bill currently has no Senate sponsor and has been sent to the Assembly Education Committee before it can be discussed on the floor.