Kept quiet about his time dancing and rappelling on CBS reality show Amazing Race

Albuquerque, New Mexico - For the past couple of Mondays, we've been sharing the story of Art Velez and his time on the CBS reality show Amazing Race. Art is a shooter for the U.S. Border Patrol pistol team. That means we can't help but bump into him every September during the National Police Shooting Championships. He took the opportunity to do something he couldn't do while the show aired ... talk.

"That was probably the most frustrating part," said Velez. "I was allowed to tell my wife and my son but that was it.

"Everybody in the family had to sign non-disclosure agreements. My parents, her parents, my sister. It was probably hardest for my son because he was a freshman in high school. The kids were always on him for the inside scoop."

More on Art & J.J. learning to dance and rappel on Amazing Race ...

Classic Smith & Wesson Snubnose shoots the Off-Duty Sidearm

Albuquerque, New Mexico - While in Albuquerque for the National Police Shooting Championships, we asked Patrolman Chase Blohm, Jr. of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office if we could take a look at his guns. Why do that? Because Blohm finished off the Championships ranked as the High Sheriff. Whoever accomplishes such a feat probably has an incredible collection of guns. Guns they've used for years in countless tournaments with great stories of competitions and care. Or maybe not.

More on the Smith & Wesson Snubnose .357 ...

From NRA's Police Championships to CBS' Amazing Race

Albuquerque, New Mexico - The Amazing Race is more than just a reality show. We learned that a few weeks ago when talking to Season 20 contestant Art Velez. Art and his partner J.J. finished second overall in an adventure that spanned five continents and dozens of timezones. While competing in NRA's 50th National Police Shooting Championships, Art stepped to the sidelines and told us about the wear and tear such an adventure can have.

"We were on for three weeks, twenty-one days of non-stop action going 24/7. It was amazing."

How's that for an unintended pun?

It's easy to forget that Amazing Race contestants aren't just taking part in challenges. They're doing so while flying from timezone to timezone to timezone. Anyone who's experienced jet lag knows how taxing that such flights can be on your system. That's when you go from the reality show to the reality of life.

More on Amazing Race contestant Art Velez at the National Police Shooting Championships ...

Find out what firearms were used to win High Sheriff at the 2012 National Police Shooting Championships

Albuquerque, New Mexico - The gentleman above with a shotgun in hand is Patrolman Charles "Chase" Blohm, Jr. of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office in Memphis, Tennessee. An eight year veteran of the force, Blohm is a Detective in the General Investigations Bureau. He is also the High Sheriff for the 2012 National Police Shooting Championships.

One thing Chase has learned throughout his years of competing for the Shelby County Pistol team is that you need a lot of guns to win a championship. For Chase, and shooters like him, sometimes that means you have to borrow a gun or two. Heck, when you're in the middle of getting your masters and your wife is going to law school, you might have to borrow even more.

More on the Guns of NRA's High Sheriff ...

National Police Shooting competitor takes on the Amazing Race

Albuquerque, New Mexico - Sunday night marked the opening night for the 21st season of Amazing Race on CBS — a globe trekking competition where contestants take on challenges and obstacles related to the locale's culture and community. At the end of every episode (well, almost every episode), the last team to complete that leg of the race is eliminated.

In Season 20, teams took twenty-four days to travel to twenty-two cities in ten countries on five different continents. Why mention that? Because we had a few of the NRA faithful take on the Amazing Race Challenge.

More on Art Velez's time on the Amazing Race...

NPSC is sporting brand new shooting mats this year and you can get your name on them

Albuquerque, New Mexico - One of the things that makes Albuquerque such a great location for the National Police Shooting Championship is its impressive 100-point turning target range. Competitors make use of shooting mats while in the prone position during 50 yard stages to pad their knees and, most importantly, elbows. Albuquerque's hard-packed desert ground isn't very forgiving on human joints, let alone the concrete firing lines competitors shoot from, which is why these mats are needed.

More on the NPSC's Legacy Shooting Mats ...

Additional material from the NRA's National Police Shooting Championships & Tactical Police Competition to come

Albuquerque, New Mexico - A few days back from the National Police Shooting Championships and everyone is asking for pictures. But why do you need pictures when we've posted all the good stuff here on NRAblog? Well, maybe we haven't. Just look at the shot from the Tactical Police Competition's shotgun course above.

A quick review suggests that we've only begun to scratch the surface of all the videos and photographs we took last week while out in New Mexico. Our lap tops and portable hard drives are bulging at the seams with more and more and more.

So keep your eyes open. Soon enough, course descriptions, photo layouts, competitor interviews and videos will be popping up here on NRAblog.

Shield Up one of NRA's toughest Tactical Course in New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico - As we said last week, the blind course from NRA's Tactical Police Competition in New Mexico was a doozy. All they knew was that there twelve targets and 180 seconds to get them in.

More on the Blind Stage "Shield Up" at the New Mexico Tactical Police Competition ...

The San Antonio Marksmanship Unit makes plans for success at the NRA National Police Shooting Championship 

Injuries and assignments waylaid a good portion of the San Antonio Marksmanship Unit for this year's National Police Shooting Championship. Here's a look a their preparation for the 2010 Championships in Albuquerque:

More on San Antonio's 2nd trip to NPSC...