Marching Band Member Practices Rifle Toss, is Mistaken for Armed Man
A Waukesha, Wisconsin high school student was practicing his rifle tossing skills last week and was mistaken for an armed man.
While waiting for the bus on September 22nd, a Waukesha North High School student was practicing rifle spins and tosses, probably for his Color Guard/ Marching Band routine, when a passerby mistook the apparatus for a real gun. The passerby called the Waukesha police department, who were dispatched to the location and even shut down the street.
Oh, fall. New school supplies, the smell of leaves on the ground, and high school football season. What’s great about high school football? Marching band and color guard, of course. Twirling flags, flying rifles, and soaring sabres… What is possibly better for a halftime show?
As a former “flag girl” myself, this story struck close to home. Never in my life would I have expected a headline like this one. Oh, times, they are a’chagin’.
There are lots of apparatus that are used in color guard and winter guard shows: flags, sabres, rifles, and batons… Kids practice until their fingers bleed and their bodies are covered in bruises to master tosses and tricks.
In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, here is a little teaser of some rifle tricks.
Color guard rifles are named for a reason, of course. They are very rifle-like. They are carved of wood, though, and usually painted white with white tape marking certain release-points or softening places so twirls and catches don’t hurt the hands and fingers quite as badly.
Of course, to a person who watches a little too much FOX news and/or is a little gun sensitive, these tools of the trade may, in fact, look like a real rifle.
Where I get a little confused is why a person would think another person would be twirling a real gun around. This, too, may be a symptom of our overly sensitive society. I can only imagine that the person who called the police was a middle-aged white woman who believed her safety and the safety of those around her to be compromised by a RIFLE SPINNING MANIAC on the corner of the street at 6 am.
“Is he shooting at anyone, ma’am?”
“No.. he’s just… OH GOD, THE HORROR!”
“What? Ma’am? Is anyone hurt?”
“No, but he just caught a wicked toss with his death tool.”
For reference, real rifles:
AUCHTERARDER, SCOTLAND – AUGUST 26: Sporting guns and rifles on display at Gleneagles Hotel on August 26, 2016 in Aucterarder, Scotland. The annual auction of Fine Modern and Vintage sporting guns and rifles, which is now in its 49th year, takes place on August 29, at the Gleneagles Hotel. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
NOT real rifle:
Screenshot of a 39″ Elite 2 Rifle used for color guard and winter guard. From MarchingWorld.com
From an article in the Waukesha Patch, it is said that the issue was de-escalated after police spoke to school officials. The marching band director had to speak to students about “common sense” places to practice their skills, and a letter was sent home to parents about the incident.
"“I personally spoke with the color guard students and shared with them what I feel are common sense guidelines we should use in terms of the color guard equipment, from the perspective of the ‘real world’ who don’t know what they are and how we use them,” the band director told Waukesha Patch.“I included the situation as well as other stories of friends I have who are involved in color guard who may travel on bus, train or plane who have encountered similar situations. It became a learning moment for them.”"
There is some conflicting advice spinning around my head:
Better safe than sorry and use your brain.
This is real life, folks. I can only assume this kid (a male) was white, otherwise I’m forced to wonder if we’d have another dead kid “with a gun” on our hands.
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All’s well that ends well, I guess. Careful with your rifles, kids.