There are several incentives for organizations to join NRA's Business Alliance: insurance, grants, range services, and all sorts of discounts. Well, they just added something new to that already impressive list.

Outdoor Affinity Telecom recently joined the program the Business Alliance. Here's what Clubs & Association's Marketing Manager Son Nguyen has to say:

Outdoor Affinity Telecom provides a variety of telecommunication services to NRA members and their businesses. By clicking on http://www.outdooraffinity.org/nra, members can take advantage of savings on everything from local and long distance to wireless, web/data and managed services. As an added benefit, Outdoor Affinity Telecom offers a free communications audit to provide optimized and cost-effective solutions from over 50 network providers, improving your company’s business. Visit http://www.outdooraffinity.org/nra or call 866-519-5222 today!

Daisy Outdoor Products, the world's oldest and largest manufacturer of airguns, ammo and accessories, has just announced the location and date of their annual International BB Gun Championship Match. Thanks to Aig Gun & Muzzleloading Program Coordinator Jessi McClain for passing along the info.

Daisy Announces its 45th Annual International BB Gun Championship Match to be hosted by the City of Rogers, Arkansas July, 2010 

The Daisy IBBGCM will be celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2010, the match has been held in several locations around the country, but never in the company’s hometown of Rogers.  For 16 of those 45 years, including the past 6 years, the match has been held during the July 4th weekend at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

“Rogers is the home of Daisy – and has been for over 50 years.  It makes sense to bring this nationally-recognized event home to Rogers”, stated Daisy President & CEO Ray Hobbs.  “Until recently, there just hasn’t been a facility which could accommodate this match.  The citizens of Rogers, the Mayor and the Rogers Public School system have all recently invested in some tremendous facilities at two state-of-the-art high schools.  The field house, gymnasium and commons area at Rogers High School certainly meet our needs for hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, meetings and the matches themselves.” 

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You have two and a half days remaining of the Nation's Gun Show, held in Chantilly, Virginia, at the Dulles Expo Center.

While there, look for a table like the one pictured above. The NRA National Firearms Museum staff are trying something new for this event. Stop by their table to learn what that is -- you could win a prize! 

A recent Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinic in Leominster, MA, was a success. Thanks to Women On Target coordinator Beth Hellmann for passing along the following from the Leominster Champion: 

Women hit the target at Sportsman's Club

Leominster Sportsmen’s held its annual “Women on Target” Day on Nov. 1. Twenty-three women took part in this womens-only instructional shooting clinic. They received hands-on safety instructions ad got to shoot a variety of guns - from 22 pistols to shotguns, cowboy guns to modern service rifles.

The clinic was directed by Art O'Leary and attracted 21 women. Continue reading here.

Learn more about the Leominster Sportsmen's Association.

NRA’s Training Department and MetaMedia recently won a 2009 CINE Golden Eagle Award for the Personal Protection Outside the Home training DVD. Above, NRA staff members who were instrumental in the creation of the film pose with the Golden Eagle.

From left to right: Bill Poole, Director of Education & Training; John Howard, NRA National Instructor Trainer; Andrew Lander, Instructor Program Coordinator; and Charles Mitchell, Manager of the Training Department.

Next in the Phil Noir series is the Colt 1911.

For those new to our play on words, Phil Noir is a take on Film Noir. And what is film noir? A "cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas"--the all-time classic example being The Maltese Falcon.

As the 1911 story goes, American troops ran into trouble during the Philippine-American War. Apparently the Colt .38 Long revolver was having little effect upon their adversaries. In response, the Army went in search of a .45 caliber semi-auto. Colt, along with five other firearm manufacturers, submitted their designs and the M1911 was born.

So effective was the 1911 that it saw service in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and even Desert Storm.

That's all we're going to give away! For the full scoop, join National Firearms Museum Senior Curator Phil Schreier at 10:20 p.m. EST during this week's segment of Curator's Corner on NRANews.com or Sirius Patriot 144.

The Gene Pearcey family visited the National Firearms Museum on Friday and enjoyed a tour led by Phil Schreier. Pearcey, known in the cowboy action world as "Evil Roy," visited the Museum for the first time along with 12 family members. The group met with fellow cowboy action enthusiasts, General Operations' Executive Director Kayne Robinson and Deputy Executive Director Andrea Cerwinske.

Several of Pearcey's firearms and heirlooms are on display in the Ruger Gallery. The current Ruger exhibit – Guns West! the West the way it is, the way it was, and the way it could have been – is a popular one, echoing the growth of the cowboy action shooting community. "Over 100,000 new shooters came to this hobby in a matter of 15 years," Schreier said. Pearcey, a top cowboy competitor, runs Evil Roy Shooting School out of Durango, Colorado, with his wife Karen, also known as "Wicked Felina."

Pearcey took a few minutes to talk to NRAblog about his role in cowboy action shooting:

“I started shooting in 1993," Pearcey told NRAblog. After taking two of his grandchildren to a cowboy action match in Durango, Colorado, he was hooked. "We started (competing) the next year, and we're going into our 16th year of competition, traveling all over the United States and Finland, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, and a lot of different places."

What started out as  a simple trip to Washington DC to tour the White House bloomed into several additional tours, including the NRA Museum and Arlington National Cemetery. Pearcey said 10 of his 15 grandchildren made the trip. "It's been a nice chance for us to get together." One family homeschools their children, and Pearcey said the emphasis on American history fit nicely into their lesson plans.

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Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is just one of many youth cooperative organizations the National Rifle Association supports. Thanks to Connie Elliot with the BSA Shooting Sports Task Force for sharing her article on all that the NRA does to help Scouts get involved in the shooting sports.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has long been a strong supporter of both the mission and the shooting sports programs of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Currently, NRA is an integral member of BSA’s Shooting Sports Task Force, which has the responsibility for producing the new BSA Shooting Sports Manual.

The National Rifle Association is recognized as the world’s foremost authority on firearm safety and the shooting sports, and as such, its firearms training and instructor certifications form the basis of the BSA’s National Camping School (NCS) Shooting Sports Director certification. This certification is one of many conducted through NCS sessions held prior to the summer camping seasons, and is required for a Council Summer Camp to receive accreditation. Participants in the Shooting Sports Section of NCS earn NRA Instructor Certifications in Rifle, Shotgun, and Muzzleloading Rifle at a minimum. They may also have the opportunity to earn certifications as Pistol and Muzzleloading Shotgun Instructors. Another certification available to be earned is NRA Certified Range Safety Officer (RSO). The requirements for running a live firing range for Boy Scouts and Venturers now require that it be supervised by an NRA Certified RSO. NRA provides Instructor and RSO materials at no cost to BSA, through a grant from The NRA Foundation.

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Doug Wicklund, senior curator of NRA National Firearms Museum, has returned from Tulsa where he displayed two German pistols at the Wanenmacher’s Tulsa Arms Show.

Held twice a year, the show calls itself the "world's largest selection of antique, collector and modern firearms, knives and accessories." The Museum traditionally sends an exhibit.

"It was a great weekend with all sorts of collectors, enthusiasts, and families," Wicklund told NRAblog of the November 14-15 show. At left, Wicklund manned this booth for the entire two-day show, answering questions and distributing literature about the NRA National Firearms Museum.

The Mauser and Walther semi-automatic pistols are featured in this Tulsa World article: 

Nazi sabotage mission in U.S. related in gun show's display

Two German pistols and a detonator seized from Nazi saboteurs who landed on U.S. soil in 1942 will be the featured exhibit at a Tulsa gun show this weekend.

Billed as the largest gun show in the world, the Wanenmacher's Tulsa Arms Show starts Saturday at the QuikTrip center at Expo Square.

Continue reading here.

Read more about the pistols here.

Since the NRA National Firearms Museum has a lovely new gift shop right here at NRA Headquarters, NRAblog has decided to send our newest staff member, Nick Ivey, to the shop once a week to see what he finds. 

One of the newest and most exciting items available in the NRA National Firearms Museum's store is the new NRA Derringer Butane Lighter, pictured above.

The derringer has two settings, regular and wind-resistant for cigar lighting. The regular setting operates like any generic lighter and by a simple flick of the “safety,” the lighter will ignite the Butane flame. You can pick up your NRA derringer lighter for $9.95. 

NRA General Operations Executive Director Kayne Robinson welcomes current and former military personnel to the NRA Headquarters Range.

Tinker sergeant a top marksman

“Your heart’s pumping and you’re breathing hard, but you’ve got to calm down and aim your shots,” explains Mike Henderson. “Techniques vary, but it all comes down to three things: concentration, keeping your sight picture clear and trigger squeeze.”

It’s not combat that the staff sergeant is talking about. It’s competition. And it’s tough. “It’s very, very competitive,” he says. “There are some good shooters out there.” And he should know. He’s one of them.

A combat arms instructor with the 72nd Security Forces Squadron, Henderson is the top competitive military police shooter in the country, winning the National Rifle Association’s National Police Shooting Championship in the military category two years running. Not bad, considering this is only his second year of competing. 

“I never thought I’d be doing it,” he says.

Nicole McMahon, Event Services Coordinator for NRA Field Operations, tells us the season of Friends of NRA banquets is slowing down:

11/19/2009
Laredo, Texas
Webster, South Dakota

11/21/2009
Auburn, Washington
Bismarck, North Dakota
Evanston, Wyoming
Garnett, Kansas
La Grande, Oregon
Perry, Iowa
Richfield, Utah

Read our most recent first-hand description of a Friends of NRA banquet, courtesy of Derek over at Thepackingrat.net.

The staff of the NRA National Firearms Museum will be at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia, this coming weekend. Check out their table – it's usually in the corner near the café – to see the a special Thanksgiving exhibit produced by Assistant Curator Matt Sharpe:

Stop by the Museum's booth for a chance to win a prize from the NRA Museum store! Guess which firearms represent popular dishes served during a Thanksgiving meal.

You get a head start knowing that on display will be two Turkish “Rat Tail” flintlock pistols, a muzzle-loading pistol from the Revolutionary War era, a German “potato masher” grenade, a Maynard tape roll primer rifle, a revolver owned by superstar trick shot and exhibition shooter Judge Roy Bean, and a 17th Century wheelock carbine which belonged to John Alden, an original settler of the Plymouth colony and signer of the Mayflower Compact. More...

Clark with his daughter and wife

Roanoke, VA - This past weekend, NRA Life Member Dave Clark of the Blue Ridge Mountains Council of the Boy Scouts of America received the Silver Beaver award, the highest honor the local council can bestow on a Scouter. Clark, a professional scout executive for 33 years and a member of summer camp staff for 40 years, has a long list of accomplishments and service to the Boy Scouts as well as the National Rifle Association.

His service as a volunteer in the NRA was prominently listed in his citation for the Silver Beaver award; Clark is local chairman for the Pittsylvania/Danville Friends of NRA Committee as well as the co-chair for the Virginia Friends of NRA State Fund Committee.

Clark is an avid shooter and is a member of the Riflemen of Wynne’s Falls and the Virginia Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. He is also a NRA Certified Virginia Hunter Safety Instructor.

As director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Council Scout Reservation for 14 years he was instrumental in implementing and developing their Mountain Man camping outpost.

Dave retired from being a professional Scout Executive in 2006 but still manages to devote time to the NRA, Scouting, Lions and Rotary Clubs.

NRA salutes you, Dave, for achieving this special honor. Thanks for all of your hard work and efforts on behalf of today’s youth.

And thanks to you, Phil, for sharing the story with NRAblog! Want to serve as an NRAblog correspondent for your community? Just email us at GOblog@nrahq.org.