National Take Your Daughter to the Range Day - Jun 15, 2013

As many of you know, National Take Your Daughter to the Range Day is near and dear to my heart.  If you are new to this blog, you may not know the history.  This idea was launched in Jan 2012 on Facebook, it quickly grew and we became a non-profit corporation, had 35 hosting ranges across the country and thousands of followers on FaceBook, Twitter (@NTYDTTRD), and here, on this blog. 

Hard as I tried, starting last fall, I had trouble getting interest for this year.  Now, just like last year, I am inundated with emails.  That’s ok, I’ve blocked out time (taken time off from teaching) to deal with it all.  I was concerned that the current anti-gun climate would put a damper on the event, but it seems to have the opposite effect.  There is a little nervousness about the ammo shortage, but many of the clubs have reported that members are coming forward with donations of ammo to support the events.

The theme for NTYDTTRD is Safety, Education and Family.  Safety is key, whenever we are handling firearms, Safety is number one!  Education, we want to help the kids learn and understand the proper handling as well as discover the fun of shooting.  Family, doing things as a family is important, and shooting is fun.  This is also a great chance to get the girls involved and many Dads see it as a Father Daughter outing, although Moms are welcome and most ranges are also welcoming sons. 

While we strive to keep costs down, there are expenses.  Postage, promotional materials, the website, insurance…We really need donations to help cover these, and many of our donations come in small increments, $5 or $10.  We are grateful for every penny.  There is a link on the National Website to donate via PayPal. 

We also need donations to support the local (Northern Virginia) event, held last year, and probably this year, at HQ NRAs Range.  Bottled water, ammo, targets, prizes…we are collecting not only National but locally targeted donations.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Talk to your local range, see about hosting an event!  The smiles on the faces of the kids make all the planning and effort worthwhile.  Many clubs reported an increase in membership requests.  Some commercial ranges noted an increase in return customers. 

Safe Shooting!