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­­GLOCK Donates 60 Pistols to Scholastic Steel Challenge

Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships

Glock Pistols

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. — -(AmmoLand.com)- The Scholastic Steel Challenge (SSC) announced that firearms maker GLOCK Inc. has donated 60 pistols, valued at nearly $42,000, to the new youth shooting program. Two of GLOCK’s most popular models, the model 17 and 19, will include four magazines each and will be used in support packages to help new SSC shooting teams get started in the program. The company will also offer special pricing on additional pistols to further assist teams as they grow.

“With GLOCK becoming a corporate sponsor of the SSC, we hold dear a twofold responsibility to perpetuate the growth of our industry and re-enforce the honor of our inalienable right to keep and bear arms by perpetuating the opportunities to participate in competitive shooting sports. As a community of shooters, we are all responsible for raising up a new generation of competitors from the ranks of the youth. The SSC is one such vehicle to make that mandate a reality,” said Josh Dorsey, vice president for GLOCK, Inc.

GLOCK is the latest company to join the Scholastic Steel Challenge effort. Already the program has received support from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), Smith & Wesson, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network and Action Target which have committed over $100,000 in funding and product.

The Scholastic Steel Challenge is a national team-oriented youth shooting program developed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA) and funded in part by a grant from the NSSF. The program is open to young men and women ages 12 to 20 and offers them the opportunity to compete as a four person team for a national title in the action pistol discipline of speed shooting.

“GLOCK has been one of the primary leaders in the effort to expand competitive pistol shooting and the GLOCK Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) has done more to promote pistol shooting and build the ranks of practical shooting than any other industry program. Their generous support means that 60 teams will have championship proven pistols as they seek to make their own shooting sports history,” said Scott Moore, director of SSC.

For more information on the Scholastic Steel Challenge and the Steel Challenge Shooting Association please visit www.steelchallenge.com.

About SCSA:
The Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA) is the governing body of the sport of Speed Shooting and organizer of the Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships. To learn more about the Steel Challenge Shooting Association and the Steel Challenge visit the Web site at www.steelchallenge.com. There you will find diagrams of the stages of fire, complete listing of past results, a list of past champions, world record times and more.­

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Arizona Game And Fish Commission Votes To Enter Lawsuit In Support Of Arizona Strip Management Plans

Arizona Game and Fish Department

Arizona - -(AmmoLand.com)-The Arizona Game and Fish Commission voted unanimously today to file an amicus curiae brief in support of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) regarding land management on the Arizona Strip.

In general, the commission is supportive of the plans and impact statement as adopted by the BLM and chose to take this action to protect the state’s wildlife management interests and to ensure continued access to public lands for all outdoor enthusiasts.

An amicus curiae brief allows a party not directly named in the litigation to provide the court with pertinent information and arguments that may not be offered by the other parties.

The CBD lawsuit, filed on Jan. 27, 2009, questions the legality of the Resource Management Plans and Final Environmental Impact Statement adopted by the BLM for the Arizona Strip, an area of land that extends from north of the Grand Canyon to the southern border of Utah.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department was actively involved throughout the preparation of the BLM’s management plans and provided input into which roads should be retained and which ones removed to protect wildlife and its habitat, allow administrative access to needed developments and ensure reasonable public access to wildlife.

The CBD amended its original complaint on March 25 to challenge the legality of using lead firearms ammunition on the Arizona Strip.

The commission wants to minimize any potential effects the litigation may have on its successful, voluntary non-lead ammunition program that benefits endangered California condors living in the experimental, non-essential population area.

Hunters in Arizona have been participating in a voluntary program to use non-lead ammunition or remove carcasses of animals shot with lead ammunition to limit the amount of lead from spent ammunition left in carcasses in the field since 2003. Each year every hunter obtaining a big game permit in areas used by condors gets a mailing explaining the voluntary program and asking them to participate.

There has been a free non-lead ammunition program on the Kaibab Plateau and most of the area covered by this suit since 2005, and last year 90 percent of surveyed hunters took voluntary lead reduction efforts during their hunt. This unprecedented effort has resulted in lower condor blood lead levels, less treatment of birds and no lead-related mortalities in the past two years.

The Arizona Strip provides important recreational opportunities, including hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, hiking and other outdoor pursuits.

About:
The Arizona Game and Fish Department prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, or disability in its programs and activities. If anyone believes that they have been discriminated against in any of the AGFD’s programs or activities, including employment practices, they may file a complaint with the Director’s Office, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086-5000, (602) 942-3000, or with the Fish and Wildlife Service, 4040 N. Fairfax Dr. Ste. 130, Arlington, VA 22203. Persons with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation or this document in an alternative format by contacting the Director’s Office as listed above.

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