The NRA Is Competition, and You Should Be Competing

The NRA Is Competition, and You Should Be Competing
The NRA Is Competition, and You Should Be Competing
Don McDougall
Don McDougall

United States -(AmmoLand.com)- I keep hearing the NRA now part of a vast right-wing conspiracy to make President Obama look weak and ineffectual. I am not so sure he needs any help with that.

The NRA’s real function is shooting competitions.

More than politics or articles the NRA oversees 11,000 matches a year, 50 national championships and supports 15,000 shooting clubs.

So why compete? I mean that is the real question. Every athlete has their reason for competing. So I’ll briefly tell you what got me started. Always had a gun and plinking and shooting cans and was always just a social event. I was downtown during the King riots, on 6th and Commonwealth, the buildings next to the office were torched, and the police caravaned us out.

When the police lose control of a city, the results are not good. 55 people died, 3,600 fires were set, and the riots lasted six days. Quite literally imagine Ferguson X 300.

At the end of the day, we are all on our own. As a gun owner, you have an obligation to be safe and proficient with your firearm. So while I’ve always competed in other sports, I just added pistol shooting to mine. A nice new Colt 1911 and a local Combat Club got me started, and competition has covered everything from 10-meter air pistol to silhouette to .22 steel matches. Every sport gave me new skills or sharpened old ones. ONLY competition makes us better.

You’ll have your reason for competing – so where do you start?

Find a range – This link is a service supplied by the NRA that lists all local ranges and you can search for ones that meet your needs.

What do you want to shoot?

The NRA posts a list of all of the major championship matches and calendars:

The NRA Is Competition, and You Should Be Competing
The NRA Is Competition, and You Should Be Competing

With a little searching, you can find whatever you’re looking for.

Sports Shooting comes in many forms. My old knees make me too old for IPSIC. The kids who dominate this sport now are fast accurate and … did I remember to say FAST! I can still shoot IDPA. Silhouette and Steel .22 are where I at now. Fun fast and enjoyable.

The NRA has 15,000 Affiliated clubs, and 11,000 sanctioned major matches every year, plus the 50 National Events. There is something here for everyone. From High powered rifle to .22 silhouette they all fall under the NRA.

The Internet – I found my current range through the NRA website, and my current club through the internet. Over the last 25 years, the Internet has changed how clubs post results and stay in-touch with their members. A quick search will find you all the active clubs in your area. Many clubs may share a range so you can often find more than one than one club at a single location.

Suggested Searches:

This should get you started, and don’t forget to join the NRA to help support competition.

AmmoLand Join the NRA Banner
AmmoLand says Join the NRA

About Don McDougall:

Don McDougall is an NRA instructor and member of the Los Padres “Friends of the NRA” committee. If he’s not at the range you will find him setting the record straight with on gun issues and gun safety on AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.