Funny you should ask...
And then ask yourself EXACTLY what YOU have done to promote shooting sports in the USA.
Have YOU reached that many people? Have YOU had that kind of impact?
I didn't think so.
Lifetime NRA member.
Friends Of The NRA organizer.
NRA-certified range safety officer, for three separate ranges over the last 15 years. Most of those years purely voluntary, not even gas money.
DCM/CMP M1 Garand qualification shoot director and coach.
Hunter safety instructor.
NRA High Power Competitor/Instructor.
(I've probably been squadded with Fred at Camp Perry and didn't even know it...)
IPSC competitor/match director.
IHMSA competitor/promoter.
F-Class competitor.
Did I mention most of the above was during an active-duty military career?
Since retiring:
BPCR Silhouette competitor - at Lodi, WI.
Matthew Quigley Shoot competitor - Forsyth, MT.
I'm working right now on putting together a handloading clinic or three at our local shooting club in Columbus, WI. I've already had a couple sessions in my garage to teach new handloaders. It's picked up enough that I needed to move the venue elsewhere...
I am also volunteering a lot of time getting the new 600-yard range installed, and of course the usual upkeep of the current 200 yard range. We just got done rebuilding the bullet traps and mining the lead out of same. Not glamorous, but necessary to keep folks shooting.
I honestly don't see much of my living room sofa. I guess I'm too busy saving America in a non-Appleseed manner. That's why it chafes me when I see the obligatory and smarmy "get off your couch/what have you done?" remark. Appleseed ain't the only game in town, nor is it the oldest, nor is it the
one true sword.
This is without doubt one of the most prominent gun forums on the web. I would hazard a guess that there are some movers and shakers present who do a lot for shooting/2A/American heritage issues, and don't particularly need to be browbeaten or berated with such verbage. Many would probably put my efforts to shame, quite truthfully. There's a good chance they weren't asleep in high school history, either, and could rattle off Revolutionary War minutia ad nauseam, as well as other defining moments of pure Americana.
I do indeed laud the tenacity and vigor with which Fred, Interceptor_Knight, MeanStreaker, Funfaler, and other folks I recognize from appleseedinfo.org push the program. If you search by Funfaler's username here, you'll find the majority of his postings are about Appleseed. The same goes for MeanStreaker. That's some hardcore dedication for you, one must admit.
Now Appleseed has even managed to spill out of its normal location in The Rallying Point subforum, where gatherings are supposed to be announced/discussed, and since overflowed straight into Rifle Country. Who knows what next week will bring? (Hint - there's an Activism subforum ripe for the taking. Don't worry, the mods aren't looking...)
Interceptor_Knight, I appreciate the invite to Lodi and the Winnequah Gun Club. Every time I go to that range, I'm usually making big clouds of white smoke and hitting steel buffalo silhouettes way out there, so I'm well aware of the facility. I may take a drive over there when Appleseed is in town, just to see why I'm spinning my wheels in my other endeavors. Even though I find no value in the program, I've got two 20-something stepsons who haven't been in my shoes, and could probably make use of the training. In the meantime, I've got to finish this PowerPoint presentation for my handloading clinic. I'm saving America, one handloaded round at a time, you might say...