Last night I had the privilege of attending the American Legion Young Guns Post 2 awards ceremony in Pueblo, Colorado. It brings me hope to see nearly 25 of our local young people learning discipline and gun safety, while having fun and developing life skills and friendships.
We met at the American Legion, where sixteen shooters were awarded certificates for completing a ten week course covering gun safety, marksmanship, patriotism, team-work, and air rifle basics. Many of them passed their final exam with a score of 100%. Most of them got trophies and patches for competing in a nationally sanctioned competition the past weekend. One of them was decorated for reaching the skill level of "Expert Shooter". All of them received applause, congratulations, and encouragement to continue honing their skills and developing their character.
I was there for over two hours, and never saw one of them get loud, rowdy, uncooperative, disrespectful, or unkind. Not one of them had their britches hanging down behind their behind. None of them had a ball cap on backward, nor pulled down over their eyes. And, quite refreshingly, not one of them had a set of iPod earphones attached to their head. They paid attention, smiled when greeted and spoken to, made eye contact with the adults, were kind to each other, and cleaned up when the banquet was completed.
It's programs like this that give me hope in our next generation. It gives me hope in our country. Hope for our future. Job WELL done, Mr. Ron and team! Keep up the excellent work!
~Gwen
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