It would only take one stray bullet to kill a child in the forest of Granby. Sadly, every year in our nation, young children are killed accidentally by stray bullets.
It is puzzling that parents of young kids signed up for a Granby Boy Scout day camp would blame their local health board for closing down the camp located next door to a live shooting range. The Granby Board of Health would not have felt compelled to close the camp down at the 11th hour if the nearby gun club volunteered to close its shooting range during the hours and days that the Boy Scout camp was planning to operate.
The Granby gun club probably was well-meaning in its offer of the land for the camp.
When camps are located in forest areas, it is a common and expected problem that kids run off from the supervised areas and just want to enjoy all that open space. Who can blame them? All outside summer camps face this challenge. This is one of the reasons that most summer camps and sport activities classes require parents to sign a legal form that holds operators of such camps and activities classes harmless from liability if a child is hurt or killed.
The only reason the Granby forest location was chosen for the Boy Scout camp was because the gun club donated a section of its facility to the organization. The Boy Scouts, after charging $175 a week per child to attend this camp, did not find a safe location to operate from.
Parents assumed if the Boy Scout organization was holding its camp for young children in the Granby forest, then it must be a safe location.
The people who serve on our local city and town health boards meet infrequently, especially during the summer. These are very part-time positions. In shutting down the Boy Scout camp, the board was looking out for precious children’s lives. The backlash they have faced from the Boy Scout organization and the scouts’ parents is unfair.
Parents should put the blame where it belongs — on the shoulders of the Boy Scouts for picking a risky location for their camp.
Sara A. Elkins
Northampton