Chicago gun "buyback"-funded NRA Youth Shooting Camp photos & story

[Templar223]

Here are some photos from the NRA Youth Shooting Camp sponsored, in part, by the kind do-gooders in Chicago who gave Guns Save Life a stack of $100 pre-paid VISA cards in exchange for some rusty junk.

I haven't finished editing the write up, but here are some photos...



A small sample of the ammunition purchased by pre-paid VISA cards just like this one in the photo. Guns Save Life spent $2500 worth of Chicago gun buy-back money on ammunition to teach 130 young people the safe and responsible use of firearms.



GSL Defense Training oversaw the pistol station at this NRA Youth Shooting Camp, and after shooting with the Ruger 22/45s, we had the young people shoot for score.

We took the five highest scores and let them shoot center-fire pistols under the careful supervision of our instructors. Some of these young people had never fired a center-fire pistol before.



Lots of instructors provided assistance to teaching the young people how to use pistols.



Checking the results! "Talking Targets!"



Patient and able instructors helped the kids by answering a lot of very basic questions!




One good shooter gets a chance to shoot a .38. "Wow, this kicks more!" he exclaimed with a big smile on his face after the first shot.



Careful supervision and coaching!



A determined young lady. Note the shirt: "NRA Sports: Teaching Life Skills" it says.



Talking with one of the shooters about her target.



One of our instructors with two of the girls he was watching. We had little girls literally jumping up and down with excitement as they awaited their turn at getting to shoot pistols.

 

[crazy-mp]

Awesome glad to see that somebody is putting the buy back to good use

I also noticed all the kids have Glock lanyards on

GOOD JOB PROJECT SPONSORS

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

That is great, wonderful use of that money.

 

[Templar223]

More!





Very pleased young ladies.



And a happy young man!



A ten-year-old young lady tries her hand at a G19.





The kids loved us.





Two of my fellow GSL Defense Training instructors - and close friends - Bob and Steve.



Two more: Kay and Bonnie.



The staff, both junior staff like this young lady, and the instructors and adult volunteers got an opportunity to shoot the remaining shotgun shells on Saturday night shooting under the lights.

 

[Templar223]

More junior staff. This is Logan, one of the hard working junior staff who kept us in water, targets, ammo, and all of the other support stuff needed to keep us teaching and not chasing down logistical stuff. Many thanks to a hard-working group of teens.



Archery!



Good times to be had!



Lots of one-on-one attention.



The second relay waiting their turn at the rifle station! They were having a great time laughing and carrying on when I walked up.



The coach is Steve Dolniak, a master instructor/coach in rifle. The girl in the foreground with the AR-15/22 (S&W) liked me from the pistol range and asked for my assistance as she was shooting a 7" group. I coached her as best I could (as they weren't using slings as I prefer to when teaching at Appleseed and USRA events), and brought her group size down to 1" on her second 3-shot string. She was so happy I thought she was going to pee herself. Trigger squeeze and elbow under the rifle make a huge difference.



Listening to instruction attentively was the norm.



This happy shooter is patiently waiting for folks to return from down range.



Illinois champion Cowboy Action Shooting Junior AND Women's Champion Caitlin Darnall coaches a shooter at the CAS station. She's a remarkable 18-year-old.

 

[Templar223]

Last 10.



Air rifle! This young man looks at an Olympic-level airgun used by Coach Miller's team at ISU.



Coach Joe Miller looks over targets (and recruits for a new air rifle team he's starting in Central Illinois). "Where better a place to recruit?" he asked me with a grin and a wink.



Concentrating!




Loading!



Having a good time. This girl, about 14-years-old, had never fired a Glock before. She was five for five in the black. Those skills she refined while shooting the 22/45 carried over nicely to center-fire.



A 4 1/2 year old shoots his very first handgun - albeit in crew-served fashion. He's going to remember this day for many years to come, I guarantee it. That's mom in the foreground snapping a photo.





Group photo of most of the kids and about half of the staff. Yours truly took the photo.



About 40% of the parents and kids there for the awards ceremony. We counted roughly 350 peeps there.



We presented about 23 guns and a bow to some lucky winners. This group shot was taken on the porch of the almost-completed new indoor shooting facility dedicated to training junior shooters at up to and including the Olympic-level.

 

[hnk45acp]

That's wonderful!

 

[Husker_Fan]

Nice work!

 

[lloveless]

Good deal! another win for the good guys.
ll

 

[Midwest]

Excellent!

 

[Templar223]

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/20...putting-chicago-tax-payers-money-to-good-use/

The write up!

John

 

[Midwest]

Did any of the major media report on this? TV, radio , mainstream newspapers ?

 

[Shawn Dodson]

AWESOME!!!

You guys & gals done good! It looks like everyone had a very enjoyable, positive experience. The grins on those kids' faces are priceless!!!

I absolutely love the creativity of turning Chicago's gun buyback program on it's head to introduce young folks to gun safety, gun handling and the shooting sports.

 

[nosmr2]

Awesome job. Be sure to send Chicago a nice thank you card.