As she told NBC Boston, she quickly took to the sport, and it wasn't long before she entered her first competition. But given the anti-gun attitudes so prevalent in Massachusetts, she also had to deal with the stigmatization of the shooting sports; especially for junior shooters like herself. 

“When I first started shooting it was a little bit awkward for me to say because there was, there is sort of a stigma around it, so it was kind of difficult for me to say a lot of the time,” said Korkhin. “I had to preface this with it’s a small gun, we’re really safe, there’s a bunch of rules about it.”

It's already tough enough to be a gun owner in Massachusetts, but if House Democrats in Boston get their way there won't be any more Ana Korkhin's going from the Woburn range to the international stage. As Gun Owners Action League president Jim Wallace discussed on Cam & Co this week, a conference committee comprised of House and Senate members continues to meet behind closed doors to craft a compromise gun control bill ahead of the legislature's July 31st adjournment date. The version that passed the House last year, dubbed the Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act by GOAL, would absolutely destroy youth shooting sports in the state. 

From GOAL's summary of the House bill:

Section 1301/2. Notwithstanding section 130 or any general or special law to the contrary, it shall be lawful to furnish a weapon to a minor for hunting, recreation, instruction and participation in shooting sports while under the supervision of a holder of a valid firearm identification card or license to carry appropriate for the weapon in use; provided, however, that the parent or guardian of the minor granted consent for such activities.

• ·      Appears to ban the possession of a pistol or revolver, for any purpose, for anyone under 21. 
  • ·      Nonresident Junior shooters/hunters under 18 cannot possess a pistol or revolver for any purpose.
  • ·      Nonresidents under 21 cannot possess a large capacity firearm or semiautomatic rifle or shotgun for any purpose.

Not only would junior shooters be barred from training or competing with a pistol, Korkhin herself would apparently be prohibited from training at her home range if the conference committee adopts the House language. Korkhin is still just 19 years old, so she would have to wait another two years before she could once again pick up her .22 pistol and train for her next competition, at least in her home state. Even college programs, like MIT's pistol team, would be impacted by the prohibition on gun possession for anyone under the age of 21. 

The flaws in the Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act are far too lengthy to recount here, but GOAL has done an excellent job of laying out all of the issues on its website. Fundamentally, though, the biggest issue with the House bill is that it treats gun ownership as a problem to be solved rather than a right deserving of protection and promotion. Its proscription on youth shooting is based on the premise that guns are bad, gun ownership is even worse, and the last thing the state should be doing is encouraging the next generation to exercise their Second Amendment rights; be it for self-defense, sport, or any other lawful activity. 

The anti-gun attitudes that dominate the state's culture and politics have created a stigma around gun ownership, but it hasn't managed to kill off the culture of lawful gun ownership that exists; including some pretty robust programs for junior shooters. If the anti-gunners get their way, however, Ana Korkhin will likely be the last Massachusetts resident to compete in a shooting even at the Olympics, youth shooting will be a thing of the past, and lawmakers will have critically injured the right to keep and bear arms.