One way that concerned citizens can successfully address the issue of gun violence is to work locally for the removal of marksmanship programs and shooting ranges from high schools.

Such programs introduce gun culture into a school environment where zero-tolerance for weapons of any kind is supposed to be the standard policy. Over 2,000 high schools make an exception to zero-tolerance by allowing marksmanship training. It sends a mixed message to their students and puts them at risk for the potential promotion of school violence, as we saw in the February 2018 school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

2/10/09 Board of Education debate and approval of marksmanship training ban.

NNOMY recommends this proven strategy for organizing a campaign for the removal of marksmanship training on a school district level thus accomplishing an important aspect of school demilitarization.

Here are some of the accomplishments of the Education Not Arms Coalition strategy:

• School Board Voted to End Weapons Training in their school district.
• Shooting ranges from eleven high schools in the San Diego school district were removed.
• The practice of involuntarily placing students in JROTC was ended.
• Marine Corps JROTC enrollment at one San Diego school fell so low that the unit was eventually forced to leave.

Download a PDF copy of the Guide  HERE 

This Guide includes:

1.   Strategy: why ban marksmanship training and not jrotc?
2.   Why focus on local action versus state or federal action?
3.   Administrative versus policy approaches to banning marksmanship training
4.   ENAC: an example of a successful organizing campaign
5.   Suggested steps for a campaign
6.   Sample organizing documents

Don't Accept the Militarization of Your School! Activate for Peaceful Learning Choices.

 Revised FC 10/10/2023

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Kevin Young -

“Counter-recruitment,” alternatively known as “truth-in-recruiting” or CR for brevity’s sake, involves providing young people and their parents with information about alternatives to military enlistment (college, vocational training, job opportunities, scholarships, etc.). At the same time, CR campaigns can provide a sense of the terrible realities of war by exposing students and parents to the words of soldiers, veterans, and foreign war victims. Since most military recruits enlist 1) because they see no other option, and/or 2) because they have a deluded and romantic view of war, the military, and US foreign policy, CR efforts can fill two important gaps in young people’s knowledge.

One of the lesser-known aspects of the “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001 is a provision requiring all public high schools to provide military recruiters with students’ private contact information. The only way to avoid the release of this information is to submit a signed “opt-out” form to school administrators every year by a district-specific deadline, usually sometime between mid-September and mid-October. School administrators are legally obliged to send the opt-out form home with students, but many do not, and often the forms get overlooked within the massive information packets sent home at the start of the school year. The months of August, September, and October are thus particularly crucial for CR efforts.

What follows is an analysis of the importance of counter-recruitment and a brief starters’ guide for those who might be inclined to engage in it this fall, with links to sample leaflets and educational information.