Chicago, Illinois - Francisco Lee has been working at the National Rifle Association for a little more than a year now. As a Financial Coordinator, he's one of those who has a better understanding of where the money raised at NRA Friends Events end up. So obviously he's the perfect choice to tell our Chicago participants about Friends of NRA.

"Friends of NRA was established back in 1992," he started. "The net profit raised and these events is split between the state and the national associations."

He stopped for a moment on the Friends Banquets to go over all the can be accomplished. In addition to being a proven fund raiser, Friends Banquets are the perfect opportunity to find like-minded people, make new friends and maybe even find a local decision maker or two.

Grants were another popular subject for Francisco. Some passed out by the State Fund Committees, others passed out by the NRA Foundation, there are plenty of opportunities to find the funds for that firearm related subject you're developing.

And if you can't figure out where to start, call headquarters at 703-267-1000 and ask for Francisco Lee.

Chicago, Illinois - My turn to step up to the mike and to the crowd here at the Hilton Garden Inn (located just outside of Chicago's O'Hare Airport) came a little over an hour ago. Unfortunately there were two problems; people had tons of question and Tori had my camera.

The tons of questions meant I couldn't get to everything I prepared. Left on the plate were good portions of the web design and search engine optimization sections. Maybe I'll move that to the front of my presentation during the next workshop.

As for Tori with the camera, well, we'll go over how to use a zoom lens next week at headquarters.

After the afternoon break (which include three pieces of chocolate cake for some of us), Son continued with his hosting duties by introducing Miranda Bond, Grass Roots Coordinator for NRA's Institute for Legislative Action.

Miranda hit the highlights when it came to the issues facing residents of Illinois, the battles on Capitol Hill, and how to get more involved with that side of NRA's operation.

The schedule tells us that we'll be hearing from Friends of NRA, Youth Programs, Collegiate Shooting and maybe even a visit from the Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association.

Like I said earlier, we've a lot going on at the Hilton Garden Inn.

Chicago, Illinois - While waiting for Eric Whitescarver from NRA Range Services to begin his presentation at our Club Leadership & Development Workshop in Chicago, Sherri Judd (NRA Youth Programs) and Tori Croft (NRA Collegiate Programs) called me over for a pre-presentation pow-wow. What I'm going to cover, what they're going to cover, what we might have to leave out. There's just so much information and so little time. But now is the time for Eric to get underway.

"The Range Technical Team Advisers have worked with more than 1,800 ranges since 1991," said Whitescarver. "I have about 120 people across the country that can come out to your range, offer opinions and observations on what you're trying to accomplish. We can help if you're just starting out of if you've been there for decades."

Eric went on to tell us how gun ranges are disappearing across the United States. How a safe, well run operation benefits the members, the community and shooting sports in general. It can mean the difference between a one time visit and a life time membership/commitment.

If you'd like to learn more about NRA Range Services and how can they can assist your operation, drop them a line at (877) NRA-RANGE (672-7264) or email range@nrahq.org.

Chicago, Illinois - The last of NRA's staff arrived in Chicago Friday night for a final once over of the plan. And what's the plan? To transfer as much information as possible to the people make their way out to the Hilton Garden Inn for today's Leadership and Development Workshop. Located only a few miles from O'Hare International Airport, the Chicago seminar is the final workshop of 2011. Guess the pressure is on.

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Kankakee, Illinois - Yesterday we tried out the NRA's new Electronic Target event at the home range of the Illinois State Rifle Association, so today we thought you might like to take a gander at a bit of the action. As you can see, we had young and old in the sun and rain taking part. Participants had tons of questions ranging from cost to durability to portability to when can I do this again.

Unfortunately for those living in Illinois, the next time the system will be available is October 1st at the Belfast Range in South Carolina. If you'd like to swing by Belfast and take a couple of shots on the Electronic Target System, sign up now on the NRA's Competitive Shooting Services page to reserve your spot. Sound like a plan?

Kankakee, Illinois - The Electronic Target Event at the Illinois State Rifle Association's (ISRA) range had a little Camp Perry in it ... at lot of happy shooters and a touch of weather to spice things up. Members of ISRA shot along side of NRA President David Keene, Executive Director of General Operations Kayne Robinson and ISRA President Richard Peterson from ten to five on Saturday.

"It was pretty wild," said one member. "Seeing where you hit right after pulling the trigger, that was great."

Brought to the United States by ShotResponse through their parent company SIUS Electronic Target and Scoring Systems in Switzerland, this is the same company responsible for the electronic targets they'll be using in London for the Olympic Games in 2012. Not too shabby for an afternoon shoot in Illinois.

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The 2011 Youth Education Summit is being held all next week. As NRAblog gears up for bringing you pictures and write-ups on the kids' activities, here's an article from the Elburn Herald on Y.E.S. participant Theo Mirkut.

Local student invited to attend NRA youth summit 

MAPLE PARK—Theo Mirkut, a Maple Park resident and junior at the Illinois Math and Science Academy, was recently selected by the National Rifle Association (NRA) as one of 45 students in the country who will partake in its National Youth Education Summit (YES) in Washington, D.C. in late June.

The trip is solely for outstanding high school sophomores and juniors. And while Mirkut is indeed an outstanding student, he also happens to be an experienced marksman, which probably didn’t hurt his cause much when it came to the NRA selecting participants for the seven-day event in the nation’s capitol.

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Back in November, we encouraged young pistol shooters to register for the 4th Annual NRA Bullseye Pistol Competition Junior Shooting Camp. Here’s a report on the event courtesy of Jim Hagearty, Coach of the Illinois Junior Precision Shooters. This event was also registered as an NRA Day event through the Youth Programs Department:

Streator, Illinois - SFC Eric Daniels, United States Army (Ret.), a former member of the Army Marksmanship Unit’s Service Pistol team, was the lead instructor for the 4th Annual NRA Bullseye Pistol Competition Junior Shooting Camp, sponsored by the Illinois Junior Precision Shooters - Precision Pistol and hosted by the Sandy Ford Sportsman’s Club in Streator from December 27th through the 29th.

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Carbondale, Illinois - Tonight, Monday the 15th of November, at 7pm Eastern, The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is hosting a round table discussion titled, "The Second Amendment in Focus" at the Student Center Auditorium. The agenda promises to explore the pro's and con's of the issue in the light of recent Supreme Court rulings.

Supporting the right to keep and bear arms will be Kayne Robinson, Executive Director of NRA General Operations, Past NRA President, former assistant chief of police with the Des Moines, Iowa, police department, and a retired marine. He takes the stage in thirty minutes along with Chris Boyster of the Illinois Coalition Against Hand Gun Violence and Professor Leonard Gross of the Southern Illinois University's School of Law.

Don't happen to be in Southern Illinois this evening? Want to watch every moment as it happens live from the comfort of your own home? Well you're in luck. Just go to paulsimoninstitute.org/index.php to watch a live webcast of the forum right from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute home page. If you're having trouble with that link, you can always try going directly to the Second Amendment in Focus Ustream page at www.ustream.tv/channel/second-amendment-in-focus.