A spate of high profile school shootings in 2018 stokes fear. The violence sparks youth marches and activism for gun control, provoking a backlash from gun-rights advocates. Where will the debate lead?<\/p>\n
BY JALEY ADKINS<\/p>\n
Belfry High School<\/p>\n
Ryan Varney, Mason Varney, Ben McNamee and Haley Blackburn live in rural eastern Kentucky close to the West Virginia border where they attend Belfry High School in Pike County.<\/p>\n
The area is predominantly white and conservative with 80 percent of voters supporting Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.<\/p>\n
The youth of this area grow up being taught about guns and gun safety.\u00a0 <\/span>For rural residents, they say the use of guns is part of their culture and has been taught for generations.<\/p>\n \u201cGuns have been pretty prominent in my life and the lives of people in my area,\u201d Ryan Varney said. \u201cI have grown up being taught how to be responsible and safe around guns and I\u2019m very thankful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n This is something urban residents don\u2019t always understand which some students admit can lead to negative opinions of rural people.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my area, we get called rednecks and hillbillies,\u201d Mason Varney said. \u201cWe get looked at as people that carry around guns all the time. This makes me feel bad because people in my area aren\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe people that carry guns aren\u2019t crazy like people outside of my area think. They\u2019re smart and well-educated on how to use them safely.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n The students said growing up around guns makes rural teenagers appreciate them. It does not mean, however, they are short-sighted on the gun debate.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRural residents are often perceived as more closed-minded when it comes to the Second Amendment, not only by urban residents, but by the rest of the world,\u201d Blackburn said. \u201cFor many of us, guns serve as a way to provide food and protection, but that doesn\u2019t mean some of us aren\u2019t open to discuss this issue of gun safety and regulation.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Fifteen-year-old McNamee is one of those people. Though he says he sees the necessity of the Second Amendment, he also recognizes it can be improved.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI believe that it is a vital amendment and that all people should have the right to bear arms,\u201d McNamee said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it should be changed but I do believe there should be limits placed on some guns as they do military grade weapons.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n All the students say they have not been in a situation in their lives where they have personally been affected by gun violence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am blessed enough to say that I have not directly experienced gun violence,\u201d Blackburn said. \u201cAs the media shows: Gun violence is growing and we are all affected in some way. It may not be a direct effect, but we all find a new fear from even the simplest things like school or public outings due to violence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ryan Varney and Mason Varney, who along with McNamee are best friends, said their experiences with guns have been hunting-related. They also said they are always accompanied by an older family member. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe use them when we go turkey hunting and you have to have a shotgun for that,\u201d Mason Varney said. \u201cWe pretty much use them to hunt and occasionally go to gun ranges, so we can practice and learn how to use them better, so we can be even more safe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Although Pike County has not experienced gun violence at school, it is taking precautionary measures to improve security.<\/span><\/p>\n The Pike County Board of Education voted unanimously on Feb. 27 to allow certain teachers to carry firearms.<\/span><\/p>\n The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that the teachers will volunteer to serve as conceal-carry guards for the school.<\/span><\/p>\n They must complete background checks, mental health evaluations, firearm training, a drug test, and a qualification course.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s certainly not a simple solution –\u00a0 <\/span>just arming teachers is a crazy thought,\u201d said Nathan Coleman, a teacher at Belfry High School. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEvery teacher is not capable or willing to carry a firearm, and no amount of training can combat physical limitations or mental ones,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not right for every school or staff, but for my county it\u2019s a good decision.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Coleman said with 19 schools in the Pike County district spread across 79,000 square miles, the state police\u2019s ability to protect his county and three others, can be a challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cResponse time is certainly not ideal even in the best case scenario. Our staff also has 8-10 individuals who are already comfortable with firearms,\u201d he said. \u201cAgain, every staff won\u2019t have this and a gun in the wrong hand could be a nightmare.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Coleman, however, is confident that a gun in the right hands will allow the teachers to be able to defend their students.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt has been shown time and time again, mass murderers look for soft targets,\u201d the teacher said. \u201cIt\u2019s time for the first responders to already be on campus; instead of our current option which is shielding kids and praying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile for students like McNamee, the gun debate rages on.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think urban people don\u2019t understand that it goes back to our culture,\u201d McNamee said. \u201cRural areas typically have a culture of guns that other areas don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As for the solution to guns in American society, the teen sees a middle ground as a plausible solution.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be possible to get rid of all guns and it\u2019s not going to be possible to keep all guns,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we can meet in the middle on limiting some.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A spate of high profile school shootings in 2018 stokes fear. The violence sparks youth marches and activism for gun control, provoking a backlash from gun-rights advocates. Where will the debate lead? BY JALEY ADKINS Belfry High School Ryan Varney, Mason Varney, Ben McNamee and Haley Blackburn live in rural eastern Kentucky close to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,463],"tags":[],"staff_name":[],"class_list":["post-3670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-experiences","category-x18"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3672,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670\/revisions\/3672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3670"},{"taxonomy":"staff_name","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wkuxposure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff_name?post=3670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}