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The Mom of one of the Scouts in my son's Troop works at our Scout store. She had heard that they are changing the rules that BB Guns and Archery can only be done at council events (Day Camp or Resident Camp) and Districts can no longer do these at one of their events. This is partly due to eliminating the belt loop program.

Has anyone else out there heard this?

I usually read about these changes here but haven't seen any post about this

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That doesn't make sense. Districts are only administrative subdivisions of councils. Our council doesn't conduct any Cub activities -- everything is run through the districts.

 

Ask the mom to cite the document which outlines the changes.

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BB Gun and Archery can only be done at Council or District sanctioned events with proper guidence.  It has nothing to do with the Beltloops going away.  This has never changed. (I know that this is listed elsewhere, but this was the first hit when I Googled it.)

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/outdoorprogram/shootingsports/shooting_faq.aspx 

 

Q: What shooting programs can Cub Scouts participate in?
A: Cub Scouts can shoot BB-gun rifles, slingshots, and archery in a council or district event, but not at a unit event. Catapults can be used during a unit-organized event.

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BB Gun and Archery can only be done at Council or District sanctioned events with proper guidence.  It has nothing to do with the Beltloops going away.  This has never changed. (I know that this is listed elsewhere, but this was the first hit when I Googled it.)

 

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/outdoorprogram/shootingsports/shooting_faq.aspx 

 

Q: What shooting programs can Cub Scouts participate in?

A: Cub Scouts can shoot BB-gun rifles, slingshots, and archery in a council or district event, but not at a unit event. Catapults can be used during a unit-organized event.

 

You can also do them at a professionally run commercial facility.

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This is news to me.  Source?

 

The shooting sports manual. It says that the unit does not have to possess all the certifications needed to conduct the specific outing. So, for example, you can go to an archery range which carries the stated certifications and instructors and conduct your event as a unit. There are numerous examples noted in the manual.

 

Glad they allow this. If we had to wait for district or council to put together such fun events we'd never get to do it. Our unit has our own clay throwers, sling shots, archery gear and even catapults. 

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Hueymungus - I know those are the current rules but she was told these rule changes are being worked on and will be put in place in the near future.  I don't know who exactly told her this but it came from someone higher up and outside our council.

 

My councils shooting sports committee didn't know anything about this upcoming change.

 

As I usually hear about these changes from this forum way before I heard about chnages from my council I thought I would check here

 

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Hueymungus - I know those are the current rules but she was told these rule changes are being worked on and will be put in place in the near future.  I don't know who exactly told her this but it came from someone higher up and outside our council. My councils shooting sports committee didn't know anything about this upcoming change. As I usually hear about these changes from this forum way before I heard about chnages from my council I thought I would check here

 

Assuming this is true I bet you will see a large number of units thumbing their nose at BSA and continuing to offer these programs within the unit as currently allowed. Otherwise I know in my area of the world, you take away the ability to have shooting sports at the unit level -- and add in the pending membership policy change -- and our guys will flat out stop coming to Boy Scouts. they love our shooting sports program and we spend a great deal of money to make sure we have qualified, trained folks (in many cases 3-4 RSOs and instructors for each discipline) on staff.

 

How many times a year do districts and councils offer shooting sports now? In my neck of the woods it is webelos day camp, summer camp and webelos woods. Maybe camporee. That's only twice for boy scouts, assuming you stay in council. Maybe three if you staff day camp or webelos woods. That's not enough to keep boy scouts interested.

Edited by Bad Wolf
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Bad Wolf,

 

Unit level stuff shooting sports is only for Boy Scouts, Sea Scouts, and Venturers. Cubs can only be done at the district/council level. G2SS states that limitation.

 

All,

 

As others have mentioned, districts are an administrative unit of the council. Districts exist at the whim of the council basically. So there is really no change.

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Sounds like the Shooting Sports Committee Chair needs to call National and get clarification.
As to hold shooting events at Shooting areas...yes, that is true.  But not for Cubscouts as indicated earlier.
While this forum is good to get ideas, it is not good for official rulings.  I would call National directly if your local Council cannot clarify.  And by local Council, I also include the volunteer that chairs that specific committee since they can find the answer quickly through their conections.

 

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In my council you can rent the camp ranges for BB gun and/or archery for your pack.  If your unit has an approved rangemaster he/she can sign out the range, otherwise the council will supply the rangemaster (more $, I think).  Since the event takes place at the council's camp and is reserved through the council, the council waves its magic wand and deems it a "council event."

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Some of our cub scouts went to a District Day Camp this past week.  I only talked to some of the Webelos parents, but they said they had the scouts lay on a mat to shoot BB's Guns.  Each scout got one shot, then they had to re-load.  One bb at a time!

 

Boy, were they excited.  I do not think any of them will be going back to Day Camp next year.

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http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34416_Insert_Web.pdfis current.   Nothing changing as the OP rumors have it.......

 

There are NO unit level shooting opportunities for Cub Scouts - So Bad Wolf - you have Bad information.

 

Sorry, but our council shooting sports lead confirms they can do archery at a professional facility.

 

The matrix also says cubs cannot cook but we all know we let them.

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