BELLEVUE, WA – The principal of a North Carolina high school and an area school superintendent who supported his decision to prohibit the school’s marksmanship team from participating in a state-supported shooting tournament should be fired, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said.
East Wake Principal Sebastian Shipp and Area Superintendent Danny Barnes last month barred the school shooting team from the tournament conducted by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, based on a school district policy that bans firearms and other dangerous weapons from school campuses. Both officials reportedly interpreted that ban to extend to participation in the off-campus, non-school hours tournament. A report in the Charlotte News & Observer said school officials said “ammo and students don’t mix.â€
“This is an outrageous position,†said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Schools are places of learning, but what lesson have Barnes and Shipp taught with this decision, how to practice social bigotry?
“The school board will reportedly take a hard look at this situation so the team can possibly compete next year,†he continued, “but what consolation does that have for senior Robert Lumley, the focal point of the newspaper’s coverage? He won’t be able to participate because he will have graduated. He reportedly practiced for months in preparation for the March tournament, only to have his hopes crushed in the interest of political correctness.
“At the very least,†Gottlieb stated, “the school district owes Robert and every other member of that team a formal, written apology, signed especially by Barnes and Shipp. The district should find a way to get Robert and his teammates into a tournament of equal standing, and that responsibility should be placed squarely on Barnes and Shipp. Their actions have cheated these students out of a valuable experience, and cheating in school should get these two administrators expelled.â€