17 Year Old Skeet Shooter Gets Suspended

Willow Canyon High School, Arizona. Nov. 1 , 2007

Willow Canyon High School senior Kim Peters was running late for school. So she quickly jumped into her car, drove to school, parked in the parents/guest parking lot to save time, and ran into the school building.

Kim isn’t any senior. She competes in clay skeet shooting. She carries an Olympic identification badge and an Arizona skeet shooting members badge. She started competitive skeet shooting as a freshman after the urgings of her parents. She has won a couple trophies in the male dominated sport and even was one of the eighteen people, in this nation, to participate in this year’s Junior Olympic shooting camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

But her hobby got her in some trouble, this past week, after she was running late for school and forgot to take out her shotgun shells that she uses during her twelve hour a week training program. A security guard noticed the shells in the back seat of her car as he was giving her a ticket for parking in the guest only parking lot. A search later of the car later occurred and school officials found cigarettes in the car, but there was no gun.

“They searched me and they searched my car,” said Kim.

School officials disciplined her with a four day suspension for possessing a “dangerous instrument.” Her and her parents fear that her record will be clouded after the event and that some colleges won’t accept her with the record she has. Her father has tried to get the record changed from “dangerous instrument” to a “tobacco violation” as colleges might be more lenient with the second, but the school board won’t budge.

Kim related to actions as “careless” because of her hurry, and she doesn’t think she deserves the punishment.

The Peters’ also are citing a 2007 federal education statute that excludes shotguns and shot shells being classified as a destructive device as they are primarily used for sport. Even with the statue, Arizona state law say’s that districts are free to take disciplinary action as they see fit.

They are now trying to get support with Kim’s teachers, mentors and associations she is involved with. She was scheduled to return on Oct. 30th.

What do you think about this punishment and “crime,” if you can justify calling it that?

Original Article from http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1029shoot1029.html