Teacher Under Fire For Classroom Rifle Lesson

CBS 13
May. 25, 2006

David Lapp, a former military police officer, said he began the experiment with the Korean War-era M1 Carbine in 1992 with the blessing of the Tamalpais High School principal.

Lapp contends that firing a single .30-caliber round into a block of wood suspended from the ceiling with his students behind him is safe. Students calculate the bullet's speed by measuring the block's movement.

"The students love it," he said. "They ask about it very early on in the year. It's one of the more exciting demonstrations."

A parent complaint this year prompted the school district and the district attorney's office to investigate.

Marin County District Attorney Ed Berberian said firing a gun inside a classroom could be considered a "reckless discharge" and that it is a felony to bring a rifle onto a school campus without the superintendent's written permission.

Bob Ferguson, superintendent of the Tamalpais Union High School District, said he did not know about the experiment.

Principal Chris Holleran said he approved the experiment because he believed it was legal and was an effective way to reach out to teenagers. School officials are reviewing the matter.

"It is certainly something that one pauses about, but we felt that it was something that was OK because of the educational value," Holleran said. "Most students get a lot out of it. It's an interesting and dramatic example of physics in action."