PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
By Ronald L. Schmeits, President

Shooting Sports Offer Equal Opportunities

This is the time of year when you will hear late-night comedians talk about "football widows"—husbands distracted by professional sports, who make little effort to get their wives involved in their interests.

I'm a big Denver Broncos fan and although my wife, Ann, likes football as much as I do, a lot of her friends say they feel like football widows.

In the same way, I suspect many of you have spouses who consider themselves "hunting widows" in the fall, or "shooting sports widows" in the summer.

It's a shame—especially because there's really no reason for it.

Women have just as much stake in Second Amendment freedom as men.

Women have just as many reasons, and as much of a right, to own firearms as men.

Women have all the aptitudes and attributes needed to excel at the shooting sports, since neither size nor strength mean anything when it comes to marksmanship or safety. (Just ask Ann, who routinely and ruthlessly outscores me whenever we go pistol shooting together!)

And women have as much of a home in the NRA as men—and just as many reasons and rewards for joining and becoming members. For proof, look at just a few of our NRA programs that are designed for, delivered by and dedicated to women.

For example, the Refuse To Be A Victim program gives women (and men) simple strategies for personal safety and crime prevention with or without a firearm.

In seminars hosted throughout the United States and abroad, some 1,300 NRA-certified Refuse To Be A Victim instructors—including many law-enforcement officers—teach attendees about automobile and home security, mental preparedness, personal protection devices, self-defense training options, Internet and communications security, and security while traveling.

For women who want to know more about firearms but may not know whom to ask for advice, our Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinics provide gun safety training in a positive, supportive environment.

What's more, since these clinics are typically held at local NRA-affiliated clubs, they represent a great way for your club to provide a valuable public service while putting a familiar, friendly face on the shooting sports and Second Amendment freedom for your local community.

Women are likely the fastest-growing group of hunters in the country and the NRA supports that growth by giving women many opportunities to hunt that they might not otherwise get.

For a decade now, NRA's Women On Target program has brought together women who love the outdoors for special female-only hunts targeting a wide variety of game.

Last fall, the program hosted hunts for grouse, ducks and geese in Maine; elk in Colorado; and pheasant and chukars in Nebraska.

Two years ago, NRA broadened that outreach through the NRA Women's Wilderness Escape, in which 50 women paid to go to the NRA Whittington Center for nine days of outdoors education and fun in rifle, shotgun, pistol and black powder shooting; archery; tree-stand safety; hunter safety and survival training; geocaching; game calling; shelter construction; and more.

Family has always meant a great deal to me, and I believe the women in our families can be some of the most effective advocates and fearless defenders of freedom in this country ... if only we will let them.
After all, mothers everywhere instinctively look out for the safety of their families, and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is the ultimate guarantee of that safety.

Moms stand at the head of most single-parent households, so if we want to reach their youth with the truth about firearms and freedom, we need to reach those moms first.

Many of them would surely like to introduce their sons and daughters to shooting, if only they knew whom to turn to for help.

And millions more American women would participate in the shooting sports—and thus care about the Right to Keep and Bear Arms—if only we would give them the chance.

That's why, as president of the NRA, I call upon you today to consider how you could introduce the women in your life to the satisfaction of the shooting sports and the benefits of being a part of the NRA.

Surprise your daughter, your sister, your girlfriend, your wife or your mom by inviting her to go hunting with you on a Saturday morning, or shooting for fun at the local range. If she shows an interest, fan the spark of that passion for freedom by giving her an NRA membership.

In so doing, you won't just gain another partner for outdoors hunting or shooting fun—you also just might give firearm freedom another caring and committed friend.