NRA High Power Championships Moving?

[Ham_Chu]

cheaper. B/c this is a different nat'l guard (OH vs IN), they can charge what ever they want, and bidding war probably ensued.....

[WARFAB]

I follow Anette Wachter (30 Cal Gal) on Facebook and she shared a link to a blog post about her last night. Anette is on the NRA High Power Committee, so I thought the following comment was interesting, and a little disappointing.

https://lifeofashooterswife.com/anet...er-30-cal-gal/

5.) In general, what things do you think could be done to increase interest in traditional NRA Shooting Sports?

I have a love hate relationship with the NRA. We need them to continue these sports. But they continue to cut funding for them every year. They claim funds are needed for the political side. It is frustrating as I am a member of the NRA High Power competition committee and I am told each meeting that we are losing more funds. Unfortunately I think they want to get out of competition entirely. CMP will be the force of these sports in the future. Increasing interest is the main topic at each meeting every year. The public likes the tactical side of guns these days. 3-gun and precision rifle are booming sports. NRA bullseye is loosing interest because the old school marksmanship is not as exciting. I wish I could convince people that those skills make a great shooter. I have been able to take those learned skills to the other disciplines and that has helped me tremendously. People want instant gratification now. We have to approach people that way. In other words, I wish I had the answer!

If Anette is right about the NRA wanting to get out of competition entirely, I think that spells trouble for our second amendment rights in the long run.

As New York State residents we are all well aware that focusing on hunting alone isn't a good strategy to preserve 2A rights. The Fudds don't care about "assault weapon" bans, and the second amendment is more about the right to own "assault weapons" than it is about scatter guns. By the time the politicians get around to banning the shotguns and bolt guns the Fudds care about, it's pretty much a lost cause.

If the NRA plans on getting out of competition altogether, then that's a very poor strategy to protect our rights. Getting more of the population involved in shooting means more of the population will be voting for 2A supporting politicians. Competition is a great way to get more people involved in shooting. Service rifle competition is a great way to get more people involved in shooting the kinds of rifles that politicians want to ban. The more people we have shooting these scary ghost guns with the shoulder thing that goes up, the less likely they are to be banned. Relying solely on lobbying does nothing to get more people out shooting, and only perpetuates the myth that the NRA's political influence is illegitimate because it merely 'buys' politicians. How many people have positive thoughts associated with the idea of "lobbyists".

So even if the NRA plans on focusing on 3 Gun and other more "exciting" forms of competition, I think it's going to be a bad long term strategy to preserve our rights. The cost of entry and participation in 3 gun is much higher than other forms of competition. Between the need to buy multiple firearms (including a pistol that may or may not require jumping through permitting hoops) to the cost of ammunition for practice, entry fees, and membership at facilities that you can practice at, 3 gun is not an entry level shooting sport. If our goal is to get more people interested in shooting and involved in the shooting sports, 3 gun is going to be a tough sell for someone who isn't already an pretty serious enthusiast. The cost of entry into 3 gun will also limit participation among groups with less disposable income. In many ways, groups with less disposable income are the political demographic that we would like to have on our side in the 2A fight. In my opinion, 3 gun competitions are also going to seem pretty outrageous to people who are on the fence about gun rights. The exact people we need to work to bring into the fold of 2A supporters are going to have a hard time just jumping into something like 3 gun that requires large financial outlays and looks like all the bad stereotypes that the media portrays of shooters.

Bullseye shooting might be boring, but it's also the most approachable entry point for most new shooters to start competing. I think that makes it one of the best ways the NRA can grow interest in shooting and support our second amendment rights. If Anette is correct that the NRA wants to stop supporting it, then hopefully the CMP can pick up the slack. That's going to lead me into a rant about scoped service rifles, but I'm pretty sure I've already covered that ad-nauseum.

[thughes]

All good points for the most part DW but I must point out that 3gun is a lot of fun and can be done cheaply if having fun is your main goal. While I am no means competitive, I have shot local club 3gun matches with my SKS, Mossy 509 pump, and my carry pistol. I suck, my equipment limits me, but I have a blast and get to hang with like-minded gun folks.

[WARFAB]

I'm approaching middle age. I have a bunch of friends my age who are interested in guns and support the second amendment. Only one of them has any guns, and he has 3 pistols and possibly a shotgun. Two of the pistols are compact pocket pistols. Everyone else just wants to shoot something I'll provide for them. These are all college educated guys with decent jobs. If all of these games are merely dreams until we're in our 50s, I'm not sure how practical they are for getting lots of people involved in shooting. What you define as "cheaply" involves a level of expenditure many people can't swing.

[Liberty's Teeth]

I find her comments interesting and it concerns me that she references PRS as one of the new popular forms of shooting sports. High power includes PRS in a unique way and gets none of the promotion and advertising that PRS gets. Where has the promotion been for the sport? Give a PRS guy a rifle with irons and tell him to shoot a long range match at 800, 900 and 1000 yards and he will look at you befuddled. If he asks for help, 10 guys will be there to coach him. Go to a PRS event and ask a competitor for assistance and they tell you to go to hell as they stroke their long range rifle like a phallic symbol.

[WARFAB]

I have no idea how carefully she chooses her wording on this stuff. I might be reading too much into it. That said, I don't think it's a stretch to say she gets more support and help from sponsors and fellow shooters because she's a woman.