PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
By Ronald L. Schmeits, President

Beat Winter Boredom With Some Safe Shooting Fun

With the holidays over and hunting season wrapping up for many of us, winter is a time when there's not much happening.

What better time than now to take advantage of the many recreational shooting, gun safety training and marksmanship competition opportunities available to us?

No matter what kind of shooting you enjoy, no matter what kind of gun you own for whatever reason, the NRA has a wide variety of gun safety, skills training and marksmanship competition programs to meet your needs.

If you want to chase the winter doldrums with some wholesome fun for your entire family, why not make plans to get involved in some of those programs now?

Many Americans gave firearms as gifts during the holidays. So now is a perfect time to get the training to ensure that every new gun owner is a safe gun owner.

Many of us found during the past hunting season that our trigger squeeze with a rifle, or our smooth swing and follow-through with a shotgun, could use some practice.

So why not get a jump on next hunting season now by brushing up on those skills in the off-season?

One great thing about recreational and competitive shooting is that, unlike so many other sports, they're year-round activities.

What's more, size, strength and stamina aren't factors in marksmanship—which means a 15-year-old, 90-pound woman can compete equally with an NFL running back.

And teaching young people to shoot instills self-discipline and personal accountability—virtues that are vitally important for them to become mature, responsible members of society.

Today, with so many interests competing for young people's free time—and with anti-gun groups and politicians seeking to discourage or deter young people from participating in the shooting sports—I believe it's important that we keep those options available.

On March 2, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in McDonald v. Chicago, a case that could protect the Second Amendment from state and local government infringement in the same way the landmark 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller protected that freedom from federal government infringement.

But let's face it: Even if the Supreme Court declared every anti-gun law null and void—which is unlikely in any event—the Second Amendment can never be safe unless it's relevant and of value to each succeeding generation of leaders and voters.

As Ronald Reagan once said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."

That's just one reason why the NRA does so much to ensure Second Amendment freedom is safe, accessible and valuable to all lawful Americans like you. Here are just a few of the ways:

• NRA Youth Programs—from shooting sports camps and the NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program to gun safety and shooting programs conducted in cooperation with several national youth civic organizations—give more than a million young people every year an opportunity to experience the shooting sports in a safe, supervised environment;

• The Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program teaches pre-kindergarten through third-grade children a simple plan of action in case they see unattended firearms: "STOP! Don't touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult." Over the past 20 years, the program has reached more than 20 million children, and gun accidents among children have fallen to record lows;

• NRA Women's Programs offer a wide array of services specially tailored for women of all ages, from special women-only hunts and instructional shooting seminars to women-only competitions and the Refuse To Be A Victim program, which teaches personal safety strategies both with and without firearms.

To find shooting ranges, NRA-affiliated clubs and state associations, gun shows, Law Enforcement Firearms Schools and other NRA events near you, just visit www.nra.org/nralocal.aspx and enter your ZIP code for a full listing.

To find NRA-certified training programs—for everything from rifle, shotgun and pistol shooting to muzzleloading, reloading and personal protection—visit www.nrainstructors.org.

Whenever I hear someone in the media call the NRA "the gun lobby," I shake my head because much of what the NRA does has nothing to do with lobbying or legislation.

The truth is, the NRA does more than any other public or private group to teach Americans to own and use firearms responsibly and safely.

So take advantage of the many programs and services we offer you and your family to become safer, more proficient shooters—and have a lot of fun in the process!