An NRA Certified Pistol Instructor class was taught August 27-29, 2010 by NRA Training Counselors Kevin Cummins, Steve Fleming and Mike Palazzolo. NRAblog is happy to publish this report, written by Cummins:

The Shooting Sports Committee of Greater St. Louis [Missouri] Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America hosts NRA Certified Instructor training for the Council’s adult leaders in order for them to provide qualified supervision to the 37,000 Scouts who are members of the Council in 27 counties in Missouri and Illinois.

Under the direction of NRA Training Counselor Kevin Cummins, an instructor class is held each month in different disciplines in order to have enough instructors to permit shooting sports activities to be offered to the youth of the Council. Classes are rotated monthly through the disciplines of Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol, ML Rifle, ML Shotgun, ML Pistol, and Range Safety Officer. The BSA requires that all shooting sports activities must be supervised by a currently NRA Certified Instructor in the specific discipline being utilized and when on the range, must be supervised by a currently NRA Certified Range Safety Officer.

With approximately 20 instructor candidates in each class, a few hundred instructors are trained annually. This enables a sufficient amount of instructors to be available not only for unit shooting activities, but to have enough certified instructors and Range Safety Officers to staff the numerous district and council shooting events held annually.

In January, 2010 the Council hosted a Training Counselor Workshop for fifteen Certified Instructors wishing to be appointed as NRA Training Counselors. The three day workshop was held in the Emerson Theatre at Beaumont Scout Reservation. Instructors from Missouri, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Alabama, Indiana and Utah attended the workshop. These leaders are now teaching classes in their respective areas to instructor candidates.

Contact Kevin Cummins at FirearmSafety@AdvantageFET.com if you would like assistance in planning classes for your local Scout Council.

From Illinois' TribLocal.com, we learn about two youth groups who recently received generous NRA Foundation grants.

The area's Shooting Sports Committee Chair Tom Petrik says the $5000 grant is making a big difference for the youth: "Every grant we get is a step in the right direction for being able to provide all the program materials for all the age groups,” Petrik said.

Local Youth Receive Grants to Help Them Teach Shooting Sports

Two Venturing Crews of the Northwest Suburban Council in Mt. Prospect, IL, have each received a grant from the Friends of NRA state grant fund for Illinois. Both Crews of youth and their adult leaders will use the equipment to increase their ability to teach shooting sports at the Boy Scout camps they serve.

Venturing is the newest program of the Boy Scouts of America, and provides programs of citizenship, leadership, service, community & family, outdoors, and fitness. Each Crew decides whether they want to be all female, all male, or co-ed. The youth who make up these Venturing Crews are 14 to 21 years old, adult leaders over 21. Venturing participants learn the skills for their specialty through leadership, group activities, adult association, recognition, high adventure and by teaching others.

Crew 477, composed of the staff at Camp Napowan in Wild Rose, WI, received a $5000 grant that will allow them to purchase some new firearms and archery equipment for their rifle, archery, and shotgun ranges at the camp. Crew 478, comprised of the staff for Camp Lakota, Woodstock, IL, also received a $5000 grant that will allow them to purchase some pellet guns for older Scouts to use, gun vaults for equipment storage and a lockable ammunition cabinet. In addition, they will receive both youth and adult bows and assorted archery equipment to use at their camp, equipment that is also loaned out to local scout districts to hold Day Camp programs for Cub Scouts.

Read the entire story.

If you're in the northern Illinois area, check out the upcoming Friends of NRA banquet, set for September 30 at Atlantis Banquets in Arlington Heights.

The NRA partners with many youth cooperative organizations, from the Boy Scouts of America to 4-H. Thousands of young people receive training from NRA Certified Instructors each year through our Cooperative Youth Organizatons Program.

The NRA Whittington Center is involved with a variety of these programs. The Center will host young people from Wyoming for an educational clinic in early September. The entrance to the Whittington Center is pictured at right.

From the Platte County Record Times:

Platte County Shooters head to NRC Tourney

3 members of the 4-H Shooting Sports Club have qualified for a trip to Raton, New Mexico, with the National Rifle Association.

The four day shooting clinic is an opportunity only 12 shooting participants from Wyoming have qualified to attend, and Platte County’s Ashley Johnson, Leo Perez, Jr., and Toby Tackitt, will be the first Platte County shooters to attend the event in eight years.

“I feel nervous, but I’m happy,” Johnson said, adding she was happy Perez and Tackitt will also be able to represent Platte County. “I’m excited.”

Perez said shooters qualify to attend the event by making the top scores in 5 shooting disciplines throughout the State.

Read the entire story here.

Boy Scout Troop 555 is based in Manassas, Virginia. On Friday, August 13, 2010, the troop was in for a special treat: an all-nighter at NRA Headquarters, complete with exclusive National Firearms Museum tour and marathon movie watching. Special thanks to NRA employee Cindy Whitley for snapping these photos. Her son is a member of the troop and she chaperoned the tour.

NRA National Firearms Museum's Doug Wicklund reports:

You could tell they were nervous by the way they placed their sleeping bags close to one another.

But the Scouts were excited as well as they spread out through NRA HQ and prepared for a “Night at the Museum.”

Yet this would be an evening for these young Scouts unlike any other at the National Firearms Museum, because it was Friday the 13th....

The special afterhours tour wandered through the quiet galleries, pausing from time to time at significant pieces. The Hollywood Guns gallery gathered the most attention with Scouts gazing in awe at the actual guns from movies like Die Hard or The Outlaw Josey Wales. But the “petting zoo” downstairs was next on the agenda. The Scouts filed slowly into the dimly-lit auditorium, only to halt in amazement at what was spread out on tables before them.

Assistant Curator Amber Lammers had put out an assortment of arms fit to repel any monster. And they were going to get to handle them.

The Scouts had the chance to inspect historic Civil War pieces like an 1863 Remington rifle, classic military guns like the M1 carbine, M16 and AK-47 rifles, as well as bigger ordnance like an M60 machine gun. A particular favorite of the evening was the Steyr AUG, one of the gun models with screen time on Die Hard.

"They all can relate to the different movies from Hollywood Guns," Cindy Whitley told NRAblog. "All in all, the boys had a blast, and they're still talking about the light sabre."

Interested in scheduling a tour of the Museum for your group? Call the NRA National Firearms Museum at 703-267-1620 for information.

Overnight visits are available for Boy Scouts troops, provided the Museum has enough advance notice. "The Boy Scouts experienced a unique “behind the scenes” look at the magic of museums, even to handling pieces of history – it really was a special activity that happens nowhere else," Wicklund said. "We’ve had many Scout groups in the two years we have offered this program and the “word of mouth” advertising is great."

Philip Schreier, Senior Curator from the NRA National Firearms Museum, files another report from the Boy Scouts of America's National Jamboree in Ft. A.P. Hill, Virginia:

NRA Rocks Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree: Part 7
By: Philip Schreier

Ft. A. P. Hill, VA - Of the five different areas Scouts can enjoy shooting at the BSA National Scout Jamboree, the newest Action Area is called Buckskin Games. Here Scouts experience numerous facets of life as a Mountain Man in the 1840's. Of course, no Mountain Man experience is complete without a chance to shoot a black powder percussion rifle. Here Scouts meet up with period clad NRA safety instructors and learn a bit not only about safe firearms handling but also on black powder shooting.

Once up on the firing line, they get personal instruction on loading the gun themselves and then they fire a .50 caliber Lyman percussion rifle at a playing card which they get to keep as a souvenir. They say that once you smell black powder on the firing line, it gets in your blood for life. At 300 Scouts a day at each of the 4 Action Centers, that adds up to a lot of future black powder enthusiasts!

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Be sure the check out part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six of Senior Curator Philip Schreier's reports on the Boy Scouts of America's 100th Anniversary at the National Jamboree in Ft. A.P. Hill, Virginia.

An NRA Day event in Wisconsin was recently featured in the Columbus Journal. Sponsored by the Dodge County Friends of NRA, the event allowed area families to try their hand and the shooting sports and enjoy a day of family fun.

Sportsman's association holds family day

NRA Family Day was held July 31 at the Columbus Sportsman's Association (CSA), sponsored by Dodge County Friends of the NRA.

After a safety briefing, families were given hands-on instruction for shooting shotguns, single action shooting (cowboy), pistol and rifle by volunteer instructors associated with the Dodge County Friends of the NRA and CSA members.

Camp Director Steve Steinbeck would like to thank the volunteers who made the event possible: Rick Tebeest, Art Nevinf, Jerry Quiesser, DuWayne Kuenzi, Irene Pawlisch, Paul Mayer and Mike Fredricks.

NRA Day is an annual summer event at CSA made possible by the volunteers, NRA and CSA support.

Jamie Henning of Beaver Dam shared how he had not hunted or shot since childhood and had learned about the event at a recent hunter safety course in Beaver Dam that he had taken with his son in hopes of returning to the woods. During the day he told everyone, "Next year, we are bringing my wife. She would love this." Henning's word of the day was, "Wow!"

This day provided an opportunity for people to experience all kinds of firearm disciplines unfamiliar to them in a safe educational range environment. There was a good deal of friendly competition for bragging rights between spouses and siblings at some stations, making it a fun relaxed day for everyone.

Because the Friends of the NRA supports the 4-H shooting sports projects, a special invitation went out to Columbia County 4-H families to use the day to explore shooting sports. Starting in January 2011, CSA will be offering 4-H courses in wildlife/ecology, air pistol and archery. Any 4-H youth may participate as long as they are registered in that specific shooting sports project. Go to www.csa12.com for the complete 4-H shooting sports schedule, including rifle and muzzle loader.

Continue reading here.

Interested in attending a NRA Day event? Find one in your area.

NRA Certified Instructor and Range Safety Officer Connie Elliot volunteered at the recent Boy Scout Jamboree, where thousands of scouts participated in the shooting sports. Read on for Elliot's story on running the OK Corral air gun range and how introducing young people to shooting became a rewarding experience.

Attending the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) National Jamboree as staff is a different experience than participating as an adult Troop leader. Both have their own merits, however, attending as a staff member and seeing Jamboree emerge from bare land to a city for thousands is exhilarating.

As an NRA Certified Instructor and NRA Range Safety Officer, you see and hear many things while helping on a range. There are those that ask why we would want to give up two weeks of vacation to spend it with scouters and scouts we have never met before. I had the good fortune of being selected as staff for the Venturing Exhibit’s OK Corral and there are Jamboree scouts that have helped change the way I look at our youth today.

The OK Corral consisted of 12 stations where scouts competed against each other by shooting air rifles at five targets. The first scout to knock down all five of their targets won that round and progressed to the darkened indoor range where they experienced shooting the Night Stalker air rifles with lighted scopes. Needless to say, this was a highlight and the scouts that did not win their round scurried back in line to try their shooting skills again and again.

More...

Philip Schreier, Senior Curator from the NRA National Firearms Museum, continues reporting from the Boy Scouts of America's National Jamboree in Ft. A.P. Hill, Virginia:

NRA Rocks Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree: Part 6
By: Philip Schreier

This year, on February 8th, the Boy Scouts of America celebrated their 100th Anniversary. Originally founded in England by Lord Robert Baden-Powell in 1907, the American version began in 1910 and less than a year later Marksmanship Merit Badge was added to the ranks of proficiency badges that Scouts could earn. Ever since then, shooting has been an integral part of scouting. At this, the 17th BSA National Jamboree, shooting continues to play an exciting role at 5 different venues of 4 Action Centers.

Air Rifle shooting is as popular with the Scouts as BMX racing, SCUBA and Rappelling. Up to 800 Scouts a day visit each of the 4 Air Rifle pavilions at the 4 Action Centers. They are all given a brief safety class on firearms handling by volunteer NRA Training Counselors, Certified Instructors and Range Safety Officers. After they each receive safety glasses they proceed to one of the 40 shooting points and shoot 10 rounds from Crossman 761 air rifles at paper targets set 20' from the firing line.

For many Scouts, including this author, their first time shooting was while wearing a Scout uniform. An event warmly remembered for the rest of their lives and one that is hoped will lead to a lifetime of enjoyment in the shooting sports.

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Be sure the check out part One, Two, Three, Four and Five of Senior Curator Philip Schreier's reports on the Boy Scouts of America's 100th Anniversary at the National Jamboree in Ft. A.P. Hill, Virginia.

Hailing all the way from Sunnyvale, CA, Boy Scout Troop 466 enjoyed visiting the National Firearms Museum last week as part of a 9-day trip to Washington, D.C. for the Boy Scouts National Jamboree.

Troop 466 was led around the Museum by Senior Curator Doug Wicklund, who had plenty of stories to tell about guns from the Civil War, Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, and many other historical periods.

NRAblog had the chance to talk with assistant scout master Michael S. Malone, an Eagle Scout and father of two sons who have gained some great life experiences from their Scout activities. Specifically, Malone explained, “We try to do one great adventure every summer, and the goal is for these scouts to have experiences that they’ll remember the rest of their lives, and that help them identify with major historical events.”

For example, Malone said, three years ago Troop 466 hiked across England to attend the World Jamboree, and “Two summers ago we drove cattle up the Chisholm Trail in Oklahoma for 60 miles.” With the bar set so high, simply attending the National Jamboree would not be adventurous enough, so while they were in the Washington area, the troop took time to explore various Civil War sites: “We’ve been restoring Ball’s Bluff Battlefield and Cemetery for the last three days, and later we’ll go up to Gettysburg and Morven State Park.” More...

The following article comes from Kevin Cummins of St. Louis, MO, an NRA Training Counselor for the St. Louis Council for Boy Scouts of America:

More than 20,000 Scouts took part in ScoutQuest 100, the Greater St. Louis Area Council’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America in St. Louis’ Forest Park 4-6 June, 2010. Scouts took part in 100 activities throughout the 1293 acre Forest Park. While scaling a 35 foot climbing wall, ice block sledding, canoeing, and riding Segways were popular. A major highlight of the event was the rifle range which hosted 10,750 shooters during the Camporee.

Each Scout entered the area and was greeted by an NRA Certified Instructor and given a briefing covering basic firearm safety and the knowledge, skills and attitude of the fundamentals necessary for eye dominance, breath control, stance and sight picture to enable the Scouts to be successful at shooting their targets.

The firing line consisted of 50 NRA Certified Instructors with 50 Crosman 760 rifles. Bob Soldivera of Crosman Corporation assisted in getting the rifles and the ammunition for the event. Each Scout was issued one magazine for the Crosman 760 rifle and sent to the firing line to meet an instructor waiting to coach each Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Venturer or Explorer. Many of the Scouts shooting that day were first time shooters. To keep the lines from becoming too long, each Scout was limited to one magazine which held five pellets, however after the Scout completed his shots he was welcome to return and shoot additional times.

More...

Mark Belli, NRA Youth Co-op Group Program Coordinator, brings the following report: 

The Boy Scouts of America offer National Camping School on an annual basis to prepare and train leaders for their summer camp program. One area of training offered at the school is the shooting sports section. This program includes NRA Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol, Range Safety Officer and Muzzle loading Rifle instruction as well as archery. With the minimal number of Muzzle loading Rifles available at the camps, the National Rifle Association agreed to help provide Muzzle loading rifles to the Boy Scouts for their National Camping Schools.

Larry Quandahl, Manager of the NRA Youth Programs Department, contacted Craig Cushman,  Thompson Center’s Director of Marketing, to inquire if they would be interested in donating Muzzle loading rifles to the Boy Scouts of America. With Thompson Center’s generous donation of 16 Muzzle loading rifles, National Camping schools across all four regions now have the opportunity to run a more efficient training program.

A section director from a recent Northeast Region’s Camping School commented: “I'dlike to express my deep and most sincere appreciation to Thompson Center for the donation of the four 50 caliber Muzzle loading rifles. We had the opportunity to use them at the Adirondack National Camping School to train our shooting sports directors. Undeniably, quality equipment makes a major difference in allowing us to provide the best possibly training…”

Jeff Stout, Outdoor Program Coordinator for the Boy Scouts of America said, "The donation of the sixteen 50 caliber Muzzle loading rifles from Thompson Center has truly enhanced the Shooting Sports instruction at the 20 plus National Camp Schools held across the country. A sincere thank you to Thompson Center and the NRA for making this happen. Quality equipment and quality training equal a quality safe and exciting program for youth."

The Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree kicks off July 26, 2010. The National Jamboree is typically held every four years; however, with this being the 100th year of Scouting, it took an additional year to plan. The event takes place in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia.

An estimated 45,000 attendees -- 37,000 of them active Boy Scouts -- will attend from all over the United States. 8,000 Scout Leaders and staff will be on hand. Over the course of 10 days, approximately 275,000 visitors will partake in the festivities. The Jamboree takes place on a 76,000-acre facility which has hosted the event since 1981.

The National Rifle Association will be involved in three events – the Venturing exhibit, Camp Thunder, and Merit Badge Midway – teaching the fundamentals and safety of rifle shooting and shotgun shooting. The Venturing exhibit is a 16-firing-point range, where Scouts are teamed in pairs to compete against other teams shooting at interactive targets. The winners will progress to a low-light shooting range with interactive targets where they will shoot air guns equipped with a tactical red dot scope, laser, and bipod.

Camp Thunder is a nationally recognized event, which will be run by NRA’s Don Sipes, National Shotgun Coach Trainer. This year will feature a brand-new modified stand shooting event. Scouts will each take ten shots at angled outgoing and incoming targets, including some doubles. The doubles will be shot as report pairs, with the second target being thrown when the sound of the second shot is heard. Camp Thunder can accommodate up to 50 Scouts in each relay. Prior to shooting, Scouts will go through a safety and event briefing. This event will be staffed by over 50 NRA-trained volunteers.

Merit Badge Midway is an area comprised of more than 100 booths where Scouts have the opportunity to acquire skills to practice for or meet the requirements of many different merit badges. NRA’s Co-Op Group Program Coordinator Mark Belli will be teaching basic instructions as well as safe gun handling with rifle shooting and shotgun shooting at the Merit Badge Midway exhibit.

For more information on the National Jamboree, please visit www.bsajamboree.org. To learn more about NRA Youth Programs’ Cooperative Youth Organizations, visit www.nrahq.org/youth/organization.asp.

Our Youth Programs Department provides training to several Youth Cooperative Organizations each year, and the Boys Scout of America is no exception. Thanks to NRA Senior Training Counselor Bill Tidwell for the following report on his recent training:

In the beginning of April, Barry Bauer of Herb Bauer Sporting Goods contacted me to see if I would be willing to train a group of Boy Scout leaders an NRA Certified Shotgun Instructor Course. As an NRA Training Counselor, I hold Instructor Courses on a regular basis, so I agreed that if we could come up with a date, I would be glad to teach a class.

Mr. Bauer put me in touch with John Richers of the Sequoia Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Richers told me that they wanted to hold a course as soon as possible and that they may have as many as thirty people interested in becoming instructors. As the most people I had ever had in an Instructor Course was fifteen, I told him that I was a bit apprehensive about thirty, but if I could arrange for a couple of more Training Counselors to help with the course, that I thought it was possible.

After enlisting the aid of experienced Training Counselors Sam Grow and Jeff Banke, we set a date for the course of June 5 & 6. It was a good thing that Sam and Jeff were available as there were so many people who wanted to sign up for the course that Mr. Richers asked if we had room for ten more Instructor Candidates. Heck, I wasn't sure I could pull off training thirty, so forty shouldn't be a problem.

More...

The NRA Foundation has a broad reach. Here, two grants help a Jr. ROTC program purchase rifles:

NRA grant helps York’s JROTC

Learning to shoot straight is kind of important for anyone interested in a military career, and with help from small grants from the National Rifle Association Senior Chief Scott Moss is finding it a little easier to teach that skill to his Navy Junior ROTC students.

In the past three years the YCHS NJROTC program got a total of $3,500 from the national gun rights organization through its NRA Teach Freedom Foundation grants program. Two years ago the group got a $2,000 grant, this year it secured another $1,500.

“With that (grant money) and some other money we raised we bought 10 $400 air rifles,” Moss said. v The rifles are used by the 8-12 member Marksmanship Team selected from the approximately 170 NJROTC students. The team has been competing in Civilain Marksmanship Program competitions for the last 17 years ever since Lt. Cmdr. John Hollifield started the program.

“When we started the program 17 years ago, the Navy provided funds for bottom of the line air rifles,” Moss said. “The NRA grant allowed us to buy some top of the line models.” v In additiuon to the rifles, the group also has purchased spotting scopes, shooting stands and competition pellets for the guns.

Continue reading here.

Providing our Youth Cooperative Organizations with training to become NRA Certified Instructors is just one of the many services provides by NRA’s Youth Programs Department.

Groups such as Boy Scouts of America, Royal Rangers, National High School Rodeo Association and 4-H have benefitted from this type of training, allowing their newly trained Instructors to teach more youth about the shooting sports.

Several members of the Youth Programs Department staff recently provided training to the Elkhart County 4-H group and here is what 4-H Leader Harold Schmucker had to say about the training: 

On April 16, 2010, a team from the NRA came to our town. They instructed 12 4-H instructors in NRA Instructor, Rifle. The training will assist the group in training local youth in the 4-H program and at area conservation and rifle and pistol clubs.

The training process started with an e-Mail to the NRA asking about training youth shooters. Claudia Olsen with NRA’s Youth Programs Department answered the e-mail, started the process, and taught the class along with two other NRA trainers from NRA headquarters. I was floored and think I asked her at least three or four times if I heard her correctly that she would come out to our location and put on a class!

I have been involved in Elkhart County 4-H for the last five years and in the last three years our club has exploded with new youth who have a desire to learn the safe handling of firearms. This year the club has 350 youth enrolled. The shooting sports club offers rifle, pistol, shotgun and archery. More...