Volunteering to support our second amendment rights.

[derherr65]

Microtech started a good thread that got me to thinking. How do we better support our second amendment rights through volunteering and education?

Continued ignorance of our rights and of the importance of firearms for civilians, historically and currently, will be the eventual destruction of those rights. Our liberal public schools and media not only won't teach this, but in fact undermine it at almost every opportunity. Volunteer! Get the kids or non-owners out to the range, or out to the field. Teach them how to use a gun, the history, the responsibility. Encourage other gun owners and competitors to do the same. We offer discounts for police and soldiers, as well we should. But what about those tireless volunteers making a difference? Why don't ranges, shops and retailer in the gun industry support volunteers?

What volunteering or education are you doing to support our rights?
What ideas do you have for volunteering or education that others could also do?

[Frank Ettin]

Working with various groups over the last bunch of years, I've helped teach shooting to several hundred folks -- and have never accepted compensation. I just enjoy it.

So get involved, get active and have fun.

[derherr65]

Can you be more specific on groups you are involved in? Were they seeking volunteers/training?

[johnwilliamson062]

I hate to make comments that may breed complacency, but...

I think the understanding in the US of the importance of firearms to ensure a free society is better than it ever has been in my life time. Look at the number of "blue dog" Democrats. The crime statistics from the first AWB may not have convinced the Brady campaign, but they did convince some people in the middle.

Get as many people as you possibly can out shooting trap and target 22s. Make it so they don't have an inherent fear born of ignorance concerning firearms and if they show an interest break out the black rifle

I think like most things, personal relationships are important. I spend a lot of time helping new shooters find deal on firearms they want or trying to help them select one. Simply telling them which guy I would talk to at the local gun shop or which shop I would go to is something most find pretty helpful.

Announcing at work that you are going to shoot a few rounds of trap on Sunday and would like to know if anyone is interested in going might be the best way to go about introducing more people. just make sure you don't take more than you can keep an eye on or have other responsible shooters there to help you out.

[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by derherr65

Can you be more specific on groups you are involved in? Were they seeking volunteers/training?

Basically, it's all been an outgrowth of being active in our local shooting community.

Some years back, I frequented a range run by a local chapter of the Optimists. The income from the range funded many of their other activities. I became friendly with some of the range staff and the folks who put on the classes offered there. So it came to pass that I got myself certified as an NRA instructor in Basic Handgun, and became part of the team who put on the classes.

Then my wife and I wanted to learn wingshooting and trap shooting. We found a coach at a local club and started to take lessons. We became active in the club and good friends with our coach. And my wife and I also started to compete.

Our coach liked to offer occasional beginner classes to introduce people to wingshooting and clay targets. As my wife and I got good enough, we started to help. With us participating, he was able to increase class size and schedule classes on a regular basis; and our coach with my wife and I were the core team putting on those classes.

Then the National Shooting Sports Foundation started up the Scholastic Clay Target Program. This was actually three programs for organized competition in trap, skeet or sporting clays by kids up through their high school years. Our coach, my wife and I started up an SCTP group at our club to shoot trap, and we were the first coaches. (In 2005, our kids won the state championship in the Junior Novice category.)

Then a few years ago, I was looking for a local Utah certified instructor who gave classes locally for a Utah concealed weapons permit. It turned out that the fellow I found was the head of a group of instructors who, for quite a few years, had been teaching Basic Handgun and Personal Protection classes at a couple of local ranges. He recruited me as an instructor. I then got NRA certified for Personal Protection Inside the Home and Personal Protection Outside the Home. (We've since incorporated, and I secured us federal and state income tax exemptions.)

I also got to know the NRA training counselor with whom I did the Personal Protection course work, and I do the legal portion of the program when he teaches a Personal Protection class. (My wife and I are also NRA certified instructors in Shotgun.)

All these activities have not been money making ventures. Class fees have always been set to simply cover costs (material, range fees, ammunition supplied, etc.). And all my activities grew out of being active, around and wanting to help and participate.

That's probably a whole lot more than anyone wanted to know.

[CortJestir]

What volunteering or education are you doing to support our rights?
What ideas do you have for volunteering or education that others could also do?

I joined and volunteer for Project Appleseed for this very reason. I wanted something more than just joining the NRA, GOA, and writing my reps. While not a 2A organization, per se, one of our core beliefs is that the tradition and heritage of rifle marksmanship has been lost through the years and is slowly dying. This unfamiliarity with the utility and practicality of not only owning firearms but how to use them is a contributing factor to the erosion of our 2A right. It is Project Appleseed's mission to ensure this skill is not lost now or for our posterity.

In addition, we present pieces of early American colonial history that most likely are not (or have not been) taught in schools. Our contention is that if folks knew more about our "mythical" forebears and saw them as regular folks who cherished their freedoms, understood the deeds they undertook, and truly realized their sacrifice, then maybe, just maybe, people will have a deeper appreciation for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Just maybe they will take a moment to write their representative (no matter who they voted for) and to start keeping tabs on their elected officials. We impress upon our attendees that they are the owners of this country. And that being a Rifleman (with a capital "R") is much more than having the ability to shoot anything within a 500 yard radius.

It truly is a great program.