The topic of guns and the control of those guns have been a big point of discussion in society today. Not only for the past few months, but the last couple of years as well.

With the increase in gun violence in the United States in the past few years, there have been calls for stricter gun laws with the intent to have tragedies occur less often.

While guns can be used with bad intentions in mind, they can also be used for good. They can be used as a lesson on how to use them safely, but also competitively for sport.

This is what president Benjamin Dick and the Iowa State Trap and Skeet Club say is the focus of the group.

The Trap and Skeet Club provides a safe and competitive environment for people to learn to shoot or continue to participate in the sport.

“Safety is our number one priority,” Dick said. “If we have a new group of people who have never shot before, we’ll have a big safety meeting with everyone.”

The safety meeting is mandatory and supervised by the club’s advisors. The meeting consists of a demo on how the gun shoots and how to properly handle the gun.

Dick is a sophomore in agricultural business and as the president of the club, it is his job to ensure a safe environment for all the members of the club.

The safety precautions don’t stop there. To even be able to join the club, the club requires you to have either completed the Hunter’s Education safety course or have participated in the DNR firearm safety presentation.

After the group safety meeting, newcomers will then begin practicing their shot. But they do not do this alone.

“An experienced member of the club who is used to shooting will shadow a new member and watch how they’re shooting until they’re comfortable,” Dick said explaining the process.

One of these experienced members of the club is Vice President Dakota Boyer. Boyer, junior in management, participated in his high school’s trap and skeet team prior to coming to Iowa State.

“I got my hunter safety license when I was 12,” Boyer said. “I got it young so I was able to go hunting.”

So it’s needless to say that the club has a group of leaders who are very experienced with guns and have been around them for a long time.

Being part of a club that’s centered around guns can be difficult, especially when living on a college campus. With Iowa State’s rules about not having firearms on campus, members have to find places to keep their guns.

“Students that have their own guns, it is up to them to keep them off campus,” Dick said. “Usually, it’s a friends apartment or a house someone lives in right here in Ames.” 

The gun the team uses in competition is a 12-gauge shotgun. The team never uses its guns outside of a competition.

Most of the team members have their guns custom fit for trap and skeet only, so they don’t have much use in any other environment.

Tanner Owens, sophomore in forestry and Trap and Skeet Club member, also started hunting at a young age and was part of his high school’s trap team for all four years.

Owens feels there is a different perception for people when it comes to hunting than there is too competitive shooting.

“I think people like the perspective of sports shooting better than using guns to kill animals because it’s a more competitive sport and they see it in the Olympics,” Owens said.

As the debate about guns continues every single day, the Trap and Skeet Club becomes an even brighter light on a rather dark subject, becoming a place where kids can learn to shoot and use guns in a safe way.

In times like these, Dick and the rest of the club believe this is when the club should be talked about and utilized more often. Now is when the club becomes even more important.

“I think competition is good for guns. It is a reason why we shouldn’t get rid of guns,” Dick said. “It’s teaching a safe way of how to use the guns and there is a club for young kids if they want to shoot guns.

“There is a safe way to do it.”