Letter: Allegations about Scout camp shooting a shock

As someone who has been an Eagle Scout for 69 years (since 1954), I was completely shocked and horrified to read about the accidental shooting with an assault rifle that killed an 11-year-old Boy Scout at Camp Honokaia.

According to a lawsuit filed by the boy’s family, there were enough high-powered guns at the camp to turn Troop 19 into a fighting youth brigade (“Firearm safety rules flouted at Boy Scout camp, suit claims,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 20). There was “an arsenal of weapons that included an AR-15-type rifle, an M-4 carbine, four shotguns, four Glock pistols and an AK-17 semi-automatic assault rifle — the firearm that killed 11-year-old Manuel Carvalho.”

Additionally, while banned under Boy Scout rules, the leaders sadly and foolishly used “zombie or human-form targets at the camp firing ranges,” according to the lawsuit.

Why? That’s just insane! Are the leaders trying to teach the young Scouts the most effective way to disable a human being? What happened to the concentric-circle targets that are used in rife competition?

William T. Kinaka

Wailuku

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