All range activities are suspended

[prof]

I saw in my Facebook feed that all range activities, firearms and archery, are suspended. 

It appears that a non scout activity had an accident occur at a scout facility (Summit).

This may put a serious damper on camp this year.

Edited 6 hours ago by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

@prof are you referring to an archer accidentally shot over the the weekend at the Total Archery Challenge (non-scout) event at Bechtel Summit?

https://totalarcherychallenge.com/events/west-virginia/

From Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/totalarcherychallenge

During the Total Archery Challenge event in West Virginia, an incident occurred involving a participant on one of the courses. The individual is in stable condition and recovering.

Safety remains our top priority. While incidents like this are rare and unfortunate, they reinforce the importance of upholding our safety standards at all times and reaffirm our ongoing commitment to continuously review and enhance our protocols.

The 2025 Total Archery Challenge Tour will proceed as scheduled. We are grateful for the continued support of our partners and attendees and remain committed to leading with the same passion, professionalism, and focus on safety that our participants have come to expect. We would also like to send a big THANK YOU to all EMT’s, participants, and parties involved during the incident.

Out of respect to the injured participant and his family, and until the facts are gathered, comments and communication regarding the incident will be disabled.

We are grateful for the outpouring of support and ask that you continue to keep those involved in your thoughts. We look forward to seeing you on the mountain.
– The Total Archery Challenge Team

More details regarding archer and donations:

https://www.bowhunting.com/article/archer-shot-in-accident-at-total-archery-challenge-in-west-virginia/

Edited 14 hours ago by RememberSchiff

[prof]

@RememberSchiff yes, exactly!

[prof]

Although it was not a scout group, it happened on a scout property. Thus, scouts will have to examine procedures to prevent something like this from happening again, thus suspending range activities.

[RememberSchiff]

I modified the title as it appears ranges are closed only at Summit where accident occurred.  Still looking for a BSA announcement.

[MikeS72]

2 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

I modified the title as it appears ranges are closed only at Summit where accident occurred.  Still looking for a BSA announcement.

This letter went out to all Council Key 3 and was passed down to District Key 3.  It could have been worded better, but all range and target activities are to stand down until further notice.

[RememberSchiff]

@MikeS72   Thanks, I changed the topic title back.

I continue to wonder why the BSA cannot timestamp their official communications.

[Jameson76]

Seems a bit of an over reaction.  Maybe be specific to standing down non-scout groups.  There is a constituency within and outside BSA that has been gunning (pun intended) to limit or close target activities for many years.  

Maybe this was their excuse

[qwazse]

About three weeks before camps open.

Perfect timing.

[Tron]

The standdown shouldn't be a big deal. This shouldn't affect the summer camps. National needs to put resources into investigating the risks, conduct an analysis, and put out any recommendations (if needed, S happens right?). 3 weeks until camp should be a headache but not a show stopper. 

[Jameson76]

37 minutes ago, Tron said:

The standdown shouldn't be a big deal. This shouldn't affect the summer camps. National needs to put resources into investigating the risks, conduct an analysis, and put out any recommendations (if needed, S happens right?). 3 weeks until camp should be a headache but not a show stopper. 

That is an optimistic view.  This seems to be the "Never let a crisis go unused" strategy for some to achieve a goal of ending shooting sports.  BSA does nothing fast, the Memorial Day weekend will extend the decision timelines and there are large camps that start staff week on Sunday with week 1 for them starting 6/1/2025.  There are staff hired to run the ranges, councils have invested in arrows, ammunition, clays, etc.  In reality the timeline is maybe 5 to 7 days to "review".

 

[Eagle94-A1]

To quote Han Solo, and many others, " I got a bad feeling about this."

BSA never does things rapidly. And BSA has never shut down all shooting sports activities at one time due to an accident. Even with the Hawaii death, they did not shut down all activities.

I agree with @Jameson76

 

[swilliams]

54 minutes ago, Jameson76 said:

That is an optimistic view.  This seems to be the "Never let a crisis go unused" strategy for some to achieve a goal of ending shooting sports.  BSA does nothing fast, the Memorial Day weekend will extend the decision timelines and there are large camps that start staff week on Sunday with week 1 for them starting 6/1/2025.  There are staff hired to run the ranges, councils have invested in arrows, ammunition, clays, etc.  In reality the timeline is maybe 5 to 7 days to "review".

 

Not to mention, our scouts have already signed up for shooting sports merit badges.  If they need to change those now, they're left with the classes no one else wanted, or they're left to run amok.  And boy, do some of our scouts know how to run amok.  Makes me selfishly glad that I'm not doing summer camp this year, but will be doing high adventure, lol.

[InquisitiveScouter]

I'm getting word that more guidance on this from National is imminent.

Very doubtful this safety pause will affect Summer Camp activities... they know where their bread is buttered 😜 

[Navybone]

1 hour ago, Jameson76 said:

That is an optimistic view.  This seems to be the "Never let a crisis go unused" strategy for some to achieve a goal of ending shooting sports.  BSA does nothing fast, the Memorial Day weekend will extend the decision timelines and there are large camps that start staff week on Sunday with week 1 for them starting 6/1/2025.  There are staff hired to run the ranges, councils have invested in arrows, ammunition, clays, etc.  In reality the timeline is maybe 5 to 7 days to "review".

 

I agree with your concern, especially if there is the mentality of zero risk.  But I applaud BSA instituting a safety stand down when someone is hurt on a range (archery or rifle/shotgun).  The stand down is a good opportunity to learn about what occurred at the Summit, and ensue that everyone has the right procedures and training in place.  The best defense against any effort to reduce range activities is demonstrating mature processes that are not afraid to be self critical and truly place safety first.  A stand down like this is a best practice among many professional organizations (police, military, etc) for a reason.