Having the right instructor can make all the difference in Scouting

Kevin Cummins is an NRA Advanced Certified Instructor out of St. Louis. He's been holding shotgun instructor courses in Missouri for a long time now. His specialty is teaching those who teach the scouts. Here's an update on a recent class:

The Greater St. Louis Area Council of the BSA hosted a Shotgun Instructor class 12-13 October, 2012 at Beaumont Scout Reservation.

Education is key to firearm safety. We need to educate the next generation in the shooting sports. It begins with safe firearm handling.

Education is the foundation for everything we do. Our parents enrolled us in school so we could receive the education necessary to become good citizens and self-reliant members of society. It is incumbent upon us to continue our education daily and make certain that today’s youth are educated to best of their ability.

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Bass Pro Shops donates NRA Museum NASCAR panel from Sprint Cup Series races at Daytona

Fairfax, Virginia - We've got a new NASCAR souvenir here at NRA Headquarters courtesy of Bass Pro Shops. How'd we do that? Here's how.

The Bass Pro Shops NASCAR Sprint Cup race team went with a special paint scheme during a few races this summer. A paint scheme that focused on the National Firearms Museum. Basically, it was an attempt to highlight the new NRA Sporting Arms Museum scheduled to launch this fall at the Bass Pro Shops flagship store in Springfield, Missouri.

Driven by Jamie McMurray in the in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and by Austin Dillon in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the paint schemes were on display this summer at races in Daytona and Atlanta.

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Springfield, Missouri - Our good friends over at Bass Pro Shops have been nice enough to tip the proverbial NASCAR hat in honor of their partnership with the National Firearms Museum this weekend. How so?

They've included an NRA Museum paint scheme on the side of their NASCAR Chevys. A gesture in recognition of the new 10,000 square foot museum the NRA is opening at Bass Pro Shops Headquarters this fall.

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St. Louis, Missouri - After arriving on the sandy shores of Miami, Florida, soon to be NRA Certified Instructor Gabby Franco found herself waist deep in guns. In an effort to immerse herself in the firearms industry, she spent the next six years traveling from trainers to ranges to shops and manufacturers. Then there was a call from home.

"My brother called from Venezuela," she started. "They were playing Season 1 of Top Shot down there and he said, 'Gabby you have to apply!' I was like … a tv show? Yea, right, me on television ... okay."

With less then a head full of steam, she emailed her background and a picture. As luck would have it — they called her right up.

"We like your email, but you need to send in an application and video. So I sent in the information. I was invited to the tryouts and well, you see, I made the show!"

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St. Louis, Missouri - You never hear the whole story.

Even at the 2012 NRA Convention, where we pushed to release as much intelligence as possible, there were still a few items which failed to reach the wires. Like this one. Of the utmost importance. Critical news. Unreported. Zombies.

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While in St. Louis for the 2012 NRA Convention, we located Top Shot Season 4 runner-up Greg Littlejohn. Greg was nice enough to take a few minutes to talk about a variety of things. With all that happens here at the NRA, a majority of the material from that meeting has been sitting in the to-do pile. No more.

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St. Louis, Missouri - "The show was a chance to reach out to the public and jump in to the professional (shooting market)."

That's how Gregory Littlejohn viewed his time on History Channel's Top Shot. Coming in second to California's Chris Cheng, Littlejohn's persona on the show at times appeared aloof before turning into the hard nosed competitor who withstood three elimination challenges. While he might not be all that happy with his public perception, he has found a silver lining in the exposure.

"I'm sure there's a hundred people in this convention hall that could outshoot me in a variety of firearms," said Littlejohn. "But I was lucky enough to get appear on Top Shot. So even if I'm not the best shooter in the world, there are opportunities now available that were unavailable before."

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Pinned to the National Firearms Museum's office walls are designs for Bass Pro Shops headquarters in Missouri. Scheduled to open early next year, the headquarters will include a 7,000 square foot exhibit of sporting arms. It will, in fact, be a satellite branch of the NRA National Firearms Museum.

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Columbia, Missouri - There's nothing wrong with a little friendly competition. That's especially true when it comes to the MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup's Celebrity Pro-Am Event. Divided into four primary categories, the Pro-Am is a mixture of celebrities, sponsors, press and professional shooters.

This year, the Celebrity match started as Cowboy Mounted Action Shooting Champion Kenda Lenseigne stood side by side with actor Marshall Teague. Kenda, last year's top celebrity shooter, dispatched Teague for a chance to defend her 2011 title.

Her opponent in the final round would be Top Shot's Iain Harrison. Harrison finished ahead Chuck's Mark Christopher Lawrence in the opening round and appeared to be in perfect position to stage an upset. Unfortunately for Iain, Kenda was a little quicker on the trigger as she won her 4th consecutive Celebrity Pro-Am title.

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Koenig retains Colt Speed Event title

Columbia, Missouri - As promised, here is your slideshow of photos from the Colt Speed Event. Spectators gathered to watch the fastest shooters in each Division of this year's MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup face off in a head-to-head match.

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