RSJ News
Rifle shooters hail from rural towns
10-27-2009
Carmen Luke, left, and Jessica Klatt, right, practice Tuesday for an upcoming rifle competition against UTEP.
Also this week in the student newsroom: Bike theft and bovine abortions
Rifle shooters hail from rural towns
By Ricardo Lopez and Dan Conroy
Jessica Klatt first held a rifle before she turned five.
“My parents used to take me shooting when I was an infant,” she said. “I held one as soon as I was physically able to.”
Now, the 20-year-old Burns, Ore. native is a top shooter for Nevada’s rifle time and a team captain.
Klatt has won rifle competitions since she was a child, and later earned a scholarship to come to UNR two years ago.
Klatt’s background is not uncommon amongst the rifle team. She and a handful of other shooters are united by their upbringing in rural towns where hunting and firearms are venerable institutions.
Of the 15 members on the team, four come from cities and towns smaller than 60,000 people.
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