Alphecca

Marksmanship Programs

I thought you might like to read a couple of stories about new courses starting up for marksmanship programs and safety courses. First, from the Troy Messenger (AL):

Thanks to financial support from the Friends of the National Rifle Association (NRA), a marksmanship/air gun program will be implemented at Charles Henderson Middle School.

A check in the amount of $983 was presented to Forrest Lee, physical education instructor and David Helms, principal by Dave Barron and Buddy Hobbs, co-chairs of the Pike County Chapter of the Friends of the NRA.

Lee, a certified instructor with the state of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, applied for the grant offered through the Friends of the NRA in order to develop and implement a marksmanship/air gun program and to further enrich the school's hunter safety program.

"The goals and objectives of these programs will be designed to provide our students with an opportunity to learn safety procedures as it applies to firearms and the mechanics of firearms," Lee said. "The programs will also provide a safe atmosphere for the development and enjoyment of shooting firearms as a sport and lifetime activity."

The second story comes from the Detroit News:

One of 6-year-old Kristen Carroll's feet dangled above the ground as she perched on her seat on a recent Saturday and focused on shooting a .22-caliber rifle at a paper target 25 yards away.

"Watch where your gun's pointing," warned her mother, Michelle Carroll, as the ponytailed youngster in her bright orange sweat shirt and pink capri pants wiggled momentarily.

Only one of Kristen's shots hit the target at the Rose Lake Shooting Range.

But she pointed excitedly at her mother's bull's-eye after the two wrapped up practice at a mother-daughter shooting and hunter safety event sponsored by the state Department of Natural Resources.

"It was fun," said Michelle Carroll, who runs a day care business in Leslie.

Although Kristen is interested in hunting with her dad, Michelle has another goal.

"I'm more interested in target shooting," she said.

"I'm not a big fan of hunting. I don't eat meat."

The event was the first time a DNR shooting seminar has been aimed at moms and daughters.

The event filled up two hours after enrollment opened, said DNR spokeswoman Mary Dettloff.

With the help of a $2,000 grant from the National Shooting Sport Foundation Step Outside Program, the DNR provided guns and ammunition, a boxed lunch, long-sleeved T-shirts and four hours of instruction in shooting, handling and cleaning guns to the nearly 30 women and daughters.