"By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: May 13, 2009
IMPERIAL, Calif. —
Ten minutes into arrant mayhem in this town near the Mexican border, and the gunman, a disgruntled Iraq war veteran, has already taken out two people, one slumped in his desk, the other covered in blood on the floor.
The responding officers — eight teenage boys and girls, the youngest 14 — face tripwire, a thin cloud of poisonous gas and loud shots — BAM! BAM! — fired from behind a flimsy wall. They move quickly, pellet guns drawn and masks affixed...
The Explorers program, a coeducational affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America...
'This is about being a true-blooded American guy and girl'...
Cathy Noriego, also 16, said she was attracted by the guns. The group uses compressed-air guns — known as airsoft guns, which fire tiny plastic pellets — in the training exercises, and sometimes they shoot real guns on a closed range.
'I like shooting them,'Cathy said. 'I like the sound they make. It gets me excited.'..."
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Here's the link to the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us...s.html?_r=3&hp