State of Georgia Issues ‘Cease and Desist’ to Preschool that Took Children to Gun Store

The state of Georgia issued a “cease and desist” letter to the preschool that took children to Hi-Caliber Firearms so they could see the kind of gun Annie Oakley used.

Breitbart News reported that Tammy Dorsten owns Holdheide Academy in Woodstock, Georgia. And she told WSBTV the kids visited the gun range on a parent-approved trip in order to see an 1894 rifle, which was the kind Oakley used.

The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) said it was investigating the school after complaints over the field trip became legion. Some of those complaints were from people in Georgia and some were from individuals around the country.

On August 29, CBS46 reported a “cease and desist” letter was issued to Holdheide Academy, with state officials claiming preschoolers were receiving care in “an unlicensed space meant for a private school.”

DECAL’s Amy Jacobs said:

Last Friday we began an investigation into Holdheide Academy, LLC, located at 5234 Old Highway 5 in Woodstock, Georgia. During this investigation we discovered that the program was caring for pre-school aged children in an unlicensed space meant for a private school. Today we are issuing a cease and desist order for this program. Meanwhile, our investigation continues into the licensed child care program. At DECAL, our top priority is the health and safety of our state’s young learners.

Dorsten defended the field trip that drew such scrutiny, making clear that parents signed “permission slips” for their children to go to the gun range. She also responded to naysayers who criticized the way a Holdheide Academy student held a gun in a photograph, saying, “It was a fantastic experience for them, and it was an education experience. It’s such a same that every other kid doesn’t have the opportunity to have. Whether the girl was holding it correctly or not was not the point of the picture. The point of the picture was for her to feel the weight of that and realize what Annie Oakley would have done in an educational experience.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com