Donkor Minors ties his daughter, N.A. Minors’, 10, shoe while instructing David Vazquez-Parker, 10, how to properly load and unload a handgun at The Don Firearms training in Mattapan Square in Boston.

As of October, there have been 530 mass shootings in the United States in 2023. The threat of an active shooter at school or encountering firearms in their community is a normalized reality for children in America. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 2022 had a documented 6,152 deaths for children 17 and under in the United States.

Donkor Minors is a former Boston public school teacher who has taken an alternative approach to addressing the gun issue in America and sees education as the most effective step forward. “My first experiences with firearms, they were pointed at me, growing up in Roxbury. I almost lost my life a couple of times,” says Minors. He recalls when his wife was hit by a ricocheted bullet at her Tuft’s graduation party fired by someone he called his “cousin.” “Even good people could make bad decisions that could take someone's life,” says Minors.

Feeling that gun policy has been ineffective in preparing kids for inevitable encounters with firearms in day-to-day life in Boston, along with requests from parents to utilize his teaching skills, Minors developed a youth firearms training program to educate children on how to safely handle firearms and prepare for an active shooter emergency. Working alongside parents, his three-week program includes discussions on mental health, gun safety, stop-the-bleed training and a trip to the firing range. Minors also leads a youth competition shooting team for older students, another avenue for safe engagement with firearms.

Before engaging with any direct firearms training, Donkor leads his class through mental health exercises that involve seeking a deeper understanding of one’s emotions. This usually involves asking parents and kids if they feel “happy, sad, fearful, ashamed, and scared,” with the extra option of “tired,” for the kids. Minors also asks participants to share their personal relationship with firearms and how the current gun environment affects them in everyday life.

Vivian McAllister, 6, takes notes during a lecture that discusses the dangers of using firearms both physically and mentally during one of Minors’ classes. Although some of Donkor’s students are very young, parents still encourage them to actively participate in the class.

Donkor Minors demonstrates with David Vazquez-Parker, 9, how to properly apply a (CAT) tourniquet in the event of a gunshot wound to a limb. His students learn the proper location above the wound to apply the tourniquet as well as the proper pressure needed for it to be effective.

Christina Fontaine, 18, lies inside an emergency patient transporter as the class goes over different techniques for moving wounded in the event of a shooting. “It’s kind of scary. You really don’t think about it happening to you at your school until you’re doing drills to prepare for it,” says Fontaine.

Donkor Minors demonstrates with Geo Lambert how to effectively move a wounded body during an active shooting. The carry is especially effective when there are not enough people to use a patient carrier and can be done so quickly in an emergency.

Vivian McAllister, 6, with the help of Tim LeBrasseur, practice packing a wound in the event an artery is severed from a gunshot. Water that is dyed red is used to simulate bleeding from the fake artery and is then plugged with gauze containing a hemostatic agent.

Kennel Etienne, a friend of Minors’, begins a lecture on the safe handling of firearms. One of the key points is the difference between concealment, anything that hides someone as a target visually, and cover, anything that can physically stop a bullet. The lecture uses real-world examples like the viability of walls in homes and schools, and expands on the dangers of bullets penetrating weaker structures. “What's happening is that young people in our community are ignorant to [firearms]… We as a community have got to get very engaging on young people around this. At the end of the day, you know, we could teach them, we could shield them away from it, but that doesn't protect them from the consequences of having a firearm around them,” says Etienne.

(From left) Jack McAllister, 8, David Vazquez-Parker, 9, Vivian McAllister, 6, and Ben McAllister, 10, look up at Donkor Minors demonstrating how to properly load and unload a magazine into a handgun. During the lesson, kids work with both airsoft and real unloaded firearms to practice motion and feel the weight of an actual gun.

Donkor Minors demonstrates the proper positioning when handling a rifle in the firing range for better accuracy to his youth shooting team at Mass Firearms in Holliston, Mass. Members of the team are accompanied by family members and enjoy a fun structured learning environment.

Donkor Minors works with his daughter N.A. Minors, 6, on how to steadily fire a rifle during a meeting for his youth competition team. The rifles are chambered for smaller competition rounds and each child is graded on their accuracy in the range. Similar bonding moments with his daughter are what helped Minors decide to move past the “stigma” of developing his youth program, “I would see these beautiful moments where like, dads will look at the daughters in the range, mothers were in the range with their sons and I'm like, what, what am I afraid of?” says Minors.