http://www.grandrapids-mn.com/heraldreview/index.php?sect_rank=4&story_id=227257
Minnesota Shooting Sports Education Center offers many programs
Jason Groth
Herald-Review
Monday, November 27th, 2006 08:27:47 AM
The Minnesota Shooting Sports Education Center’s winter sports programs begin on Monday, Dec. 4 and continue to April 20th.
The Shooting Sports Education Center, or SSEC, offers many different programs to people in the area, and has a storied history.
“The shooting center started back in the early 80s by governor Rudy Perpich,” Minnesota SSEC’s Kraig Kiger said. “His vision was to have Olympic-style venues across the Iron Range. The center was built by the state of Minnesota, and the non-profit, Minnesota Shooting Sports Education Center staffed it and manned the program. Recently, the Minnesota legislation took a long look at our history and decided to help us out financially.”
Currently, the state matches every dollar raised by the Minnesota SSEC with two dollars, up to a total of $100,000. That deal has helped the SSEC offer and sustain its many programs.
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“Programming here has expanded tremendously since those early days in 1999 when the center first opened to the public,” Kiger said. “We are conducting 24 firearm safety programs on the average.”
The SSEC’s winter programs include .22 rifle on Monday evenings, 4-H nights every Tuesday night, Wednesday nights feature the adult bullseye pistol league, Thursday nights are BB-gun and air rifle nights, and Friday nights feature open archery. Saturdays and Sundays are reserved for matches, classes and clinics throughout the winter.
“We will have indoor competitive rifle shooting, air rifle shooting, firearm safety classes, and another gun show coming up in March,” Kiger said. “The gun show has been a unique use of this facility, bringing visitors to the center to see the facility and the layout of the building, and to use it for a totally different use. I think it’s still related. We get shooters to come into the building and they start asking about what we have to offer.”
Students from across the state of Minnesota have been drawn in to the SSEC’s two-day, 16-hour firearm safety program.
“[The firearm safety] program is the same amount of hours that a student would go if they went Monday through Friday from 6-9 p.m. at night,” Kiger said. “With parents’ busy schedules and kids being involved so much today, we looked at a weekend opportunity and it has been amazing. We get kids from as far south as Rochester and as far north as International Falls.”
Kiger said the firearm safety program has also attracted kids from Crookston, Duluth, Grand Marais, and the Detroit Lakes area, while the SSEC’s International Hunters Education program has drawn in students from Wisconsin and the Dakotas.
“The program is the same state-by-state,” Kiger said of the International Hunters Education program. “Whether you come from North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, or Minnesota, they are learning the same stuff. We’ve had kids from as far south as Texas, the east coast, California and Hawaii come to Grand Rapids for some of our higher level competitive rifle programs throughout the summer months.”
Along with the firearm program, the National Rifle Association has sent coaches to the center to work with college students. The students participate in hopes of winning a scholarship or a chance at the Olympic trials. Also, the Civilian Marksmanship Program has sent coaches to do an intermediate air rifle clinic.
“We think we are doing a fairly good job of reaching those beginning students. We not only take care of the beginning needs, but the intermediate and advanced, as well,” Kiger said. “Some of the other things we have done is law enforcement-style classes. We bring in the NRA and we train law enforcement officers all over the country so they can go back to their departments to train their people. The programs are not just youth-oriented -- we try to provide a lot for everybody else.“
According to Kiger, one of the more successful programs at the shooting center is the mother-daughter firearm safety program.
“Mothers and daughters can come together and mentor one another in an area where a lot of adult females haven’t been given the opportunity to participate,” Kiger said.
A goal of the SSEC is to remove some of the fear surrounding firearms by teaching people how to use them safely and responsibly.
“There is a lot of fear around firearms and I think fear is generated by a lack of knowledge,” Kiger said. “If we can show you how to use a firearm safely and responsibly, it becomes another tool -- no different than a skill saw on a construction job. If you didn’t learn how to use that safely you could injure yourself terribly. A firearm is no different -- if you don’t know what part to keep your finger off of, and direction to keep that muzzle pointed in, accidents can happen. We really stress that part to the kids and adults who take part in that program.”
The center has an experienced staff of volunteers that enjoy the sport and want to share their knowledge with others.
For more information on the Minnesota SSEC and its programs, call 218-327-0583, or e-mail Kiger at
[email protected].
