If you're a member of a club, does your club have any established programs for introducing new shooters to the sport? I’m not talking about just saying, “New shooters are always welcome,” but some somewhat formalized instruction offered at a designated time that is advertised to non-shooters?
My club has several programs. The club works with the 4-H and Boy Scouts to introduce youth to the sport. We try to support youth shooting through instruction and through support by providing loaner rifles and .22 ammo. I don’t volunteer with these programs because both 4-H and Boy Scout rules require that instruction be provided by NRA Certified Rifle Instructors. Since I only have the Pistol certificate, I can’t help out. (They have more then enough “gofers” as it is)
The program I work with is our “Ladies Handgun 101” nights. We do about four of these a year on Tuesday nights. We reserve the pistol range and offer free instruction (ammo and loaner guns included) to any woman who wants to learn the basics of handgun shooting. We have a group of 4 or 5 of us who provide the instruction, including a NRA certified instructor (me) and a Bullseye shooter who took Top Woman Shooter at Camp Perry last year. We explain the basic safety rules and then go over the fundamentals before having the students shoot. We start with .22 pistols and revolvers, but also have 9mm pistols and .38 revolvers for students to try. We’ll also help students learn more about their own guns if they bring a gun.
We’ve found that it works well to schedule a “Ladies Night” on the same evening as one of the youth program. We’ll usually get a couple women who’ve dropped of their kids for the youth shoot and spend the time shooting with us instead of waiting at the mall. Most of them aren’t shooters themselves, but I think we’ve got a couple hooked.
The club also does a all day women’s shoot on a Saturday in the summer. This allows women to try handgun, rifle, and shotgun. I haven’t volunteered for that yet as it seems like I always have a scheduling conflict.
We’re fortunate that our club BoD supports these efforts. The club pays for the ammo, targets, etc. The instructors loan out their own guns and donate their time.
If you are a memeber of a club, what new shooter programs does your club offer? If you don’t know, find out. If your club doesn’t offer any, try to start a program. Find a couple of other people to help you, develop a basic plan for what you’ll teach and how, and then make a proposal to your club board of directors. It could be a kids program, a ladies night, a general “New Shooters Night” or something else. We don’t have to do all this by ourselves. Get your clubs involved.
My club has several programs. The club works with the 4-H and Boy Scouts to introduce youth to the sport. We try to support youth shooting through instruction and through support by providing loaner rifles and .22 ammo. I don’t volunteer with these programs because both 4-H and Boy Scout rules require that instruction be provided by NRA Certified Rifle Instructors. Since I only have the Pistol certificate, I can’t help out. (They have more then enough “gofers” as it is)
The program I work with is our “Ladies Handgun 101” nights. We do about four of these a year on Tuesday nights. We reserve the pistol range and offer free instruction (ammo and loaner guns included) to any woman who wants to learn the basics of handgun shooting. We have a group of 4 or 5 of us who provide the instruction, including a NRA certified instructor (me) and a Bullseye shooter who took Top Woman Shooter at Camp Perry last year. We explain the basic safety rules and then go over the fundamentals before having the students shoot. We start with .22 pistols and revolvers, but also have 9mm pistols and .38 revolvers for students to try. We’ll also help students learn more about their own guns if they bring a gun.
We’ve found that it works well to schedule a “Ladies Night” on the same evening as one of the youth program. We’ll usually get a couple women who’ve dropped of their kids for the youth shoot and spend the time shooting with us instead of waiting at the mall. Most of them aren’t shooters themselves, but I think we’ve got a couple hooked.
The club also does a all day women’s shoot on a Saturday in the summer. This allows women to try handgun, rifle, and shotgun. I haven’t volunteered for that yet as it seems like I always have a scheduling conflict.
We’re fortunate that our club BoD supports these efforts. The club pays for the ammo, targets, etc. The instructors loan out their own guns and donate their time.
If you are a memeber of a club, what new shooter programs does your club offer? If you don’t know, find out. If your club doesn’t offer any, try to start a program. Find a couple of other people to help you, develop a basic plan for what you’ll teach and how, and then make a proposal to your club board of directors. It could be a kids program, a ladies night, a general “New Shooters Night” or something else. We don’t have to do all this by ourselves. Get your clubs involved.
The most promising thing I've seen lately was my step nephew with a pellet gun in my yard- never did anything unsafe or just plain stupid and put most of his 25rds in the 1" black at 15yds. And that was his first session. 
