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Page 8 The Skanner March 14, 2018 News AP Finds the NRA Gave $7 Million to Hundreds of Schools By Collin Binkley and Meghan Hoyer Associated Press T he National Rifle Association has dramatically in- creased its funding to schools in recent years amid a national debate over guns and school violence, an Associated Press analysis of tax re- cords has found. But few say they plan to give up the money in the after- math of the latest mass shooting. The AP analysis of the NRA Foundation’s public tax records finds that about 500 schools received more than $7.3 million from 2010 through 2016, mostly through competitive grants meant to promote shooting sports. The grants have gone to an ar- ray of school programs, including the Junior Re- serve Officer Training Corps, rifle teams, hunt- ing safety courses and agriculture clubs. In some ways, the grant distribution reflects the nation’s deep political divide over guns. Near- ly three-quarters of the schools that received grants are in counties that voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election, while a quarter are in counties that vot- ed for Democrat Hillary Clinton, according to the AP analysis. Most are in medium-sized counties or rural areas, with few near major cities. California received the most in school grants, more than $1 million, while Florida was a close second. Florida’s Broward County school district is believed to be the first to stop accepting NRA mon- ey after a gunman killed 17 people at one of its schools Feb. 14. The teen charged in the shooting had been on a school rifle team that received NRA funding. School officials announced the change Tuesday but declined to comment further. Denver Public Schools followed on Thursday, saying it won’t pursue NRA grants in the fu- “ whose JROTC programs received $33,000, pri- marily to buy air rifles. “If the NRA wanted to provide air rifles for our ROTC folks in the future, I wouldn’t have a prob- lem with that.” The grants awarded to schools are just a small share of the $61 million the NRA Foundation has given to a variety of local groups since 2010. But it has grown rapidly, in- creasing nearly fourfold from 2010 to 2014 in what some opponents say is a thinly veiled attempt to recruit the next genera- tion of NRA members. The NRA Foundation did not return calls seek- ing comment. Whatever I think of the NRA, they’re providing legitimate educational ser- vices. If the NRA wanted to provide air rifles for our ROTC folks in the future, I wouldn’t have a problem with that ture and will turn down several that were to be awarded this year. But officials in many other districts say they have no plans to back away. “Whatever I think of the NRA, they’re pro- viding legitimate edu- cational services,” said Billy Townsend, a school board member in Flori- da’s Polk County district, Annual reports from the pro-gun group say its grant program was started in 1992 and rais- es money through local Friends of NRA chapters. It says half the proceeds from local fundraisers go to local grants and half goes to the national organization. Tax re- cords show roughly $19 million in grants going MARLA BROSE/ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL VIA AP Tax records show funds mostly went to competitive grant programs meant to promote shooting sports In this March 2 photo, a group of JROTC shooters compete in the prone position during the 2018 New Mexico Junior Olympic Qualifier for sport and precision air rifles at Cibola High School in Albuquerque, N.M., for the chance to compete at the National Junior Olympic Championships in Ohio in June. The National Rifle Association has given more than $7 million in grants to hundreds of U.S. schools in recent years, typically used for JROTC programs, including $126,000 given to Albuquerque schools. to the group’s Virginia headquarters in 2015 and in 2016. Besides schools, other typical recipients in- clude 4-H groups, which have received $12.2 million since 2010, Boy Scout troops and coun- cils, which received $4 million, and private gun clubs. Overall, about half the grants go to pro- grams directed at youth. Grant funding to schools rose sharply in the years after the 2012 shooting at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementa- ry School, fueled in part by a new grant program the NRA unrolled to help schools make safe- A career you can be proud of. Being a carpenter isn’t just a job. It’s a way of life. We’re devoted to strengthening the lives of our members with steady work, wealth and personal growth. We take a stand for our members and all workers. 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But JROTC lead- ers say few students ul- timately enlist in the mil- itary, and the primary goal is to teach students skills like discipline and leadership. “The safety that we’re teaching, the good citi- zenship that we’re teach- ing here, those are the things you don’t hear about,” said Gunnery Sgt. Jim Flores, a JROTC instructor at Cibola High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “The ma- jority of people walk out of here awesome young men and women, respect- ful of authority, things of that nature. Not so much little tin soldiers.” In some parts of the country, shooting clubs draw the same sort of following as any school sport. Bill Nolte, super- intendent of the Hay- wood County district in North Carolina, says he still shows up at school sportsman’s club tour- neys even though his son graduated. Starting in sixth grade, students can join the clubs to compete in shooting events, ar- chery and orienteering. For many families, Nolte said, it’s just like any oth- er weekend sports event. “You take your lawn chair and your coffee in a thermos, and do much like you would do if you were going to a youth soccer or travel basket- ball or baseball event,” Nolte said, adding that NRA grants have helped buy firearms and am- munition and cover oth- er costs that otherwise would fall to the parents. “We are constantly seek- ing revenue for sports- man’s club just like we do for cheerleading and track.” Districts that tallied the largest sums of NRA money typically used it for JROTC programs, in- cluding $126,000 given to Albuquerque schools, $126,000 to Broward County and $125,000 to Anchorage, Alaska. The most awarded to a single district was $291,000, giv- en to Roseville schools near Sacramento, Cali- fornia, which say much of the funding went to- ward ammunition and gear for trap-shooting teams. Grants are often pro- vided as equipment rath- er than cash, with schools given rifles, ammuni- tion, safety gear and up- dates to shooting ranges. Nationally, about $1.3 million was provided as cash, while $6 million was provided through equipment, training and other costs. The data does not in- clude grants smaller than $5,000 — those do not need to be individu- ally tracked in tax filings. Ron Severson, superin- tendent of the Roseville Joint Union High School District, says no parents have raised concerns over the funding, but ad- ministrators may recon- sider it in the wake of the Florida shooting. Read the rest of this story at TheSkanner.com