BUSH GIVES NEVADA LAND FOR SHOOTING RANGE . . .
On December 17, President George W. Bush signed a bill giving 2,880 acres of federal land, valued at $230 million, to Clark County, Nevada, for construction of the largest public shooting range in America. The projected $30 million Clark County Sport Shooting Park will include ranges for archery, air guns, pistols, rifles and shotguns as well as trap, skeet and sporting clays. The state's congressional delegation had supported the bill allocating the land for the project. County officials have said the facility would be modeled after the Ben Avery Shooting Range, a publicly owned and operated facility about 23 miles north of Phoenix, and a National Association of Shooting Ranges (NASR) member range. "This is great news for the shooting sports. Every part of the shooting community pulled together and our coordinated approach helped make this project a reality," said Rick Patterson, National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) Director of Facility Development and NASR's Executive Director. (Courtesy of NSSF, "Bullet Points")
Throughout the country, thousands of people who are interested in shooting for fun and in competition don't go because they don't know where to go or who to contact about finding a place to go shoot. For millions of folks it ¡s because no one has asked them to go.
To find out just how many new people were interested in recreational shooting, the NSSF had Roper-Starch conduct a national survey. In talking to non-shooters, people who had never been shooting before, they found that 38 million men and 17 million women would like to go shooting - if someone would just invite them. That's 55 million people.
What makes that number even more interesting is the potential impact they could have on America's wildlife and recreational shooting resources. Many folks know that hunting and fishing equipment have a special tax that is earmarked for the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Programs, administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the state wildlife management agencies. But most folks aren't aware that ammunition and other equipment used by recreational shooters also contribute to those funds. In 2003, there is over $30 million set aside for hunter education and shooting range development out of those accounts.
If even a small percentage of the 55 million non-shooters became active recreational shooters, the amount of tax money available for hunter education, shooting range development and other wildlife and fishery related programs supported by these tax monies would increase significantly.
The new shooting park in Nevada came about because everyone who was interested in developing a grand, new shooting facility decided to work together to make it happen - shooters, state and federal government agencies, elected officials and others. It wasn't easy but it resulted in a valuable new recreational facility for thousands of sportsmen and women.
If you want to help support wildlife management, hunter education programs and see more shooting ranges built, think about asking a friend, neighbor or coworker to go out to the range with you.
If you want to know more about how to help build shooting facilities in your area, contact NSSF at (203) 426-1320 or the National Rifle Association at (703) 267-1000.
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