August is the best time to take someone to the range!

It’s National Shooting Sports Month and coming of the heels of Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with Team USA has collected 6 medals in shooting, 3 of them GOLD!

There are 3 disciplines of shooting in Olympics – rifle, pistol and shotgun.

Rifle and pistol are about marksmanship skills hitting a still target where as shotgun is hitting a moving target or clay target (skeet)

“There are four gun types and three distances: 50m rifle, 10m air rifle, 25m rapid fire pistol and 10m air pistol. There are also three shooting positions: kneeling, where the athlete goes down on one knee and rests the gun on the other knee; prone, where the athlete shoots while lying down; and standing. Some events include all these positions.”

To some, firearms may look scary and intimidating. I understand that fear, as there is after all an exploding element happening in your hand and near your face….

But so is a car crash…. But, I digress.

I invite you to open your mind to the possibility of enjoyment of the shooting sports. I can attest to how much fun shooting clay (skeet) is! In fact, that was my first experiences with shooting (other than at camp as a kid with a .22)

There’s something about the satisfaction of seeing that orange clay disk burst into tiny little bits  – and there’s no mistaking who did it! 😊. Such Empowerment! Success! And pure JOY!

It’s building confidence and self esteem – it’s a wonderful dish of empowerment for the soul.

And you can have this too!  Many ranges have special events or classes just for women.

Women are the largest, and fastest, growing demographic, and during August Shooting Sports Month, look for special events and invite your friends. This is a great way to introduce your kids, neighbors, girlfriends, mom and others to shooting sports.

But not just women, we need to teach the youth as well!

If you’re a woman, finding a female only class gives you “a safe environment” to ask any question. There’s no shame, no judgement, no embarrassment. We’ve all have to start our journey in order to get where we are now. We’ve been there if that’s where you are. The important step is to start… and it’s always more fun with a friend!

So you say you’ve never even touched a gun? No problem! Sign up for a beginner class at your range or get a friend to take you to the range or the class with you. No matter the skill level, there’s always golden nuggets in taking a class.

Ever instructor teaches differently so you’re likely to hear something new with a different instructor.

Whether you’re a first-time gun owner or experienced, here are 10 ways to enjoy the target shooting sports and special events (https://www.nssf.org/articles/millions-of-new-gun-owners-will-join-in-the-fun-of-national-shooting-sports-month-in-august/)

As President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.

We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”