As the timer starts, Adler methodically punctures each of six steel plates, careful to save the designated “end plate” for last. The feat would last seven seconds, a typical time for Adler.

“I wrote a college essay about [shooting], and I said that I am who I am and that I grew up with shooting,” Adler said.

Adler’s first firearm experience came at the age of 12, in the form of a Boy Scouts of America merit badge. Beyond a shooting accuracy test, the certification process involved the memorization of details in gun operation, safety and legislation. Adler is now fascinated by those topics, though he said he initially participated for more childish reasons.

“Whenever a 12-year-old in the Scouts learns that he can shoot a rifle and become the next Delta Force sniper from Call of Duty, that’s the first course he signs up for. I guess, sadly, I was no different,” Adler said.

Adler’s father had been brought up with firearms in the house, so Adler met little resistance when he voiced his interest.

Moving quickly through the Boy Scout firearm badges, Adler advanced from rifles to shotguns and shooting sports and eventually to the role of being a teacher, only four years after his first shot.

All the while, Adler has been improving at competitive games. He shoots clay target disks called “clay pigeons” in trapshooting, which is an Olympic sport, as well as metal plates as part of a Scholastic Steel Challenge team, to which he was recruited last year.

At 15-years-old, the youngest eligible age, Adler obtained a Firearms Identification Card, which permits him to possess low-capacity long guns without supervision. Adler plans to apply for a Class B license to carry, the state’s most extensive firearm license, when he turns 21.

“You get an immediate response from shooting, and that’s what makes it feel so great,” Adler said. “When you’re on the trap line, when you see that clay fly by, and you squeeze the trigger just right and the clay turns to dust, that feels great. It’s a sense of accomplishment.”