Not long after graduating from high school, I realized my education had holes.
Sure, I could throw a couple of pre-calculus equations up against the wall and talk about the symbolism behind the world’s most boring book, The Scarlet Letter, but I didn’t know a lot about the basics of living on one’s own.
How in the world do you shop for insurance? What does a bad rental contract look like? How do you find a good mechanic?
For Jake Hindman, though, one of the first things he saw kids being illiterate in was shooting safety. Too many kids out there didn’t have a clue when it came to knowing the first thing about how to handle a gun other than from what they’ve seen in Call of Duty.
After a lot of brainstorming, conversations, and phone calls to figure out how to fix this problem, a solution was formed: the Student Air Rifle Program, or SAR, for short.
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How SAR Started
After watching the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), Hindman was blown away by the results he was seeing.
Founded in 2002 – despite some initial opposition from some who were against archery being taught in schools – NASP soon showed promising results.
Approximately 70% of all NASP students had never touched a bow before. Soon after, they were learning valuable hunting skills that could help them put meat on the table and also get them out in the woods, sharing memories with lifelong friends in the process.
Further data showed that roughly 25% of all NASP participants enjoyed archery so much that they ended up buying their own equipment. A full 18% of NASP participants end up purchasing hunting licenses as well.
In short, NASP is good for the world of archery — but could the same be done with firearms? That’s the question Jake Hindman was wondering.
If NASP was so successful, surely there could be a way to get more students interested in shooting, right? This was upon this idea that SAR was based.
According to SAR’s website, their mission is “to facilitate an introduction to the lifetime sport of target shooting to school-aged youth in grades 4 through 12.”
They also seek to improve kids’ education performance and promote positive youth development using target shooting as the avenue by which they do so.
What a SAR Session Looks Like
Typically, SAR sessions are held within a school’s gymnasium. An entire format has been created to ensure that the kids are kept as safe as possible. Target lines, spectator lines, and shooting lines laid out across the floor.
Whistle commands are given for when it is time for the kids to begin shooting.
“How do you shoot an air rifle inside safely, though?”
The answer? With specialized Styrofoam box targets.
These huge hunks of foam have targets taped to the front and can absorb and stop any incoming pellets. Shoot-and-see targets are also used to aid in visual feedback and help new shooters learn what compensations they need to make.
It’s an incredibly efficient setup that works.
The SAR utilizes lime-green Embark Air Rifles that are set up for .177 caliber lead-free pellets. They’re light enough that a 4th grader can effectively use them but just as fun for an adult to train with.
This helps to make it so that with a minimal investment, as many kids as possible across a broad age range can learn valuable shooting and gun safety skills that they may never have been able to learn otherwise.
How Prevalent is SAR so Far?
Founded in Missouri, SAR has only grown from there. They now have instructors in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, and Indiana.
According to Hindman, they are growing and are in talks with several schools in Alaska, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Oklahoma to start local programs.
How the Past 2 Years Have Impacted SAR
One of my favorite questions to ask people within the firearms community of late is to see how the chaos of the past two years has impacted them.
In virtually every case, they’ve seen drastic spikes in business. I was interested to see what current events have done to SAR.
Hindman noted that throughout 2020, they saw a significant decrease in training sessions performed. Most of their training sessions are done in schools. Due to the unforeseen COVID-19 closures, there wasn’t much they could do in many cases.
However, within the past six months, attendance has spiked for SAR. It seems that there are more kids interested in the program than ever now, particularly in Texas and Kansas.
Considering that gun sales have simultaneously spiked throughout this time, it poses some interesting questions.
Are kids just excited to be back together with friends again? Could they be seeing their parents’ interest in guns and responding in kind? Are parents instructing their kids they need shooting training?
It’s hard to nail down one answer, but regardless of the reasoning, more kids are getting gun safety training.
SAR has been compiling data from their program for a while now, and – just like NASP – they seem to show some interesting results as well.
What the Current Data From SAR Shows
SAR was founded with NASP in mind and the results it had shown, so I wondered if they’d seen similar results.
While Hindman told me SAR was currently gearing up for some research in the near future, he said in many cases, they’re too young of an institution for accurate data to be rolled out.
When I asked if SAR students showed increased rates of firearm ownership, concealed carry licenses, and so on, Hindman said it was too soon to tell. (They just celebrated seven years of being a non-profit with a framework used on a national level this past March).
However, they have been conducting some research on the effect SAR can have on kids’ mental health and well-being. To date, they’ve seen that their training does cause kids to experience improvements in their self-esteem and confidence.
Given that we’ve seen an explosion in pediatric mental health cases in the past two years, this seems like all the more reason to sign up for SAR to me.
Hindman also noted that their statistics reveal that 21-22% of their students have never touched a gun, air rifle, or BB gun before either. This means that a full fifth of all the students who sign up for SAR are receiving information on shooting safety and shooting skills they likely would never have received otherwise.
They’ve also had approximately 1500 students go through SAR to date since the program began, and they have around 400 instructors (mostly schoolteachers) around the country as well.
SAR Is Making a Positive Difference in Kid’s Lives
To better understand how SAR was making a difference, I reached out to Kessler – one of the SAR instructors.
A former active-duty Army soldier who teaches the NASP program at his local school, Kessler only had glowing things to say about SAR’s positive impact on kids.
When I asked him if there were specific instances he could think of on this, Kessler told me the story of a young girl – who, despite never having handled a weapon before – ended up joining SAR after a friend’s encouragement.
This girl not only took to shooting as if it were second nature but became one of the top SAR shooters in the US.
Her father later told Kessler that the girl’s drive, motivation, and overall positive attitude had drastically risen due to her engaging in the program.
Kessler also noted the story of a kid who had previously been something of a loner, whose involvement in SAR caused him to realize he wasn’t an oddball and that there were other kids like him.
His parents noted that although he doesn’t like school, he now looks forward to going because of SAR – even though his practice is at 6 AM.
Kessler noted that other students share this drive. Unlike the other sports he coaches, he doesn’t even have to call attendance at SAR practice because kids never want to miss practice.
It doesn’t matter how strong or tall they are, or even if they have a physical disability – anybody can excel at shooting an air rifle, and the kids are thoroughly enjoying it as a result.
Kessler also believes that the training kids receive from SAR will result in a decrease in gun-related accidents as well.
Kids not only learn firearm etiquette but valuable gun safety skills, which will make them much more experienced when it comes to carrying a firearm than somebody who hasn’t had SAR training.
From talking with Kessler, it was apparent that SAR is making a drastic difference in kids’ lives and doing so in more ways than one.
How to Become A SAR Instructor
So, let’s say you’ve recently been looking for a way to give back to your community, and you think that one of the best ways to do so is by teaching America’s youth about the world of shooting.
Contact your state’s SAR administrator
First, you will need to contact your state’s local SAR administrator. If you’re in a state that doesn’t have one, all you need to do is contact SAR directly instead.
Contact your local schools about starting a SAR program
If there are no programs near you, you’ll need to contact your local schools to see about setting up a program. If you don’t foresee your local school system letting such happen, you can talk with SAR about alternative locations for a program. There may be other options available to you for venues that they can tell you about.
One tip that Hindman pointed out is that most of their state programs partner with the local Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Should you be running into roadblocks in your region, that may be a resource well worth checking into.
Complete the BARI training
Last but not least, you’ll have to go through the SAR instructor training course. This is an 8-hour training session with a 100-question exam at the very end. Complete that test with a score of 80% or better, and you’re now certified as a Basic Air Riflery Instructor (BARI) with the Student Air Rifle Program.
Final Thoughts
Shooting was a huge part of my childhood, and I’m thankful for such being so. I spent hours traipsing through the woods with my trusty BB gun, plinking away at milk jugs, soda cans, and whatever else I could find.
It’s what laid the foundation for my rifle skills for hunting, and the SAR is proving that it works in an educational setting.
If you’re concerned about the level of gun illiteracy within your neighborhood and want to do something to help, I highly recommend looking into the SAR program.
You’ll not only be teaching valuable, lifelong skills, but you very well may make a difference in a kid’s life as well. Looking for youth guns for friends or family? Be sure to check out our article on the Best Youth Guns!
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