Dear Editor,
I am appalled and disappointed by the recent article you published called “Marksmanship Club actions contradict strict security stance.”
This article is not based upon the contradictions between East Tennessee State University’s strict security stance and the open range day the Marksmanship Club had, but rather it is based upon the personal fears and faulty assumptions of the writers.
They mistakenly assume that the purpose for the weapons featured at the Open Range Day were “created with the mindset of injuring or killing humans, not hunting animals out of necessity or for sport.”
That is just plain wrong. To me, this is fear-mongering.
The actual purpose for guns is to protect life and liberty, not end them. Also, guns are for sport, recreation, art, as in gunsmithing, the creation and repair of guns and antique collecting.
I have attended several training sessions at the ETSU range. I have been trained how to safely operate a gun and how to do so with confidence and skill.
If it weren’t for the Marksmanship Club I would still be afraid of guns and would not be able to operate them properly.
The Marksmanship Club and their members are a vital resource and tool to the ETSU community.
Through open range days people with no experience are taught the fundamentals and purposes for gun use in a safe, non-threatening environment.
It has been said that cowardice is next to ignorance. Cowardice, ignorance and fear are blatantly obvious in this article.
The authors seem to want nothing more than security; that I can understand, however I derive my security from faith in myself, not faith in security systems that frequently fail.
To Jared Story and Ash-Lee Henderson, I would recommend that you never pick up a gun without some sort of training, lest you hurt yourselves or others.
And I highly suggest you do a little more research before you wrongfully criticize a reputable, useful, and successful campus organization like the Marksmanship Club.
– Joanna Simmons

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