A Competition for Gunbloggers: Taking Newbies to the Range
In the spirit of AC's offer, I'm sponsoring an informal
competition to see how many people we can (safely) introduce to guns.
See a guide here in pdf and here in word format (in case you want to modify it for your own use.) My main concern is education. I'm not trying to turn
card-carrying members of the Brady Campaign into NRA advocates (although, I wouldn't complain.) We have to take it upon ourselves
to teach people, one at a time if need be, that guns are not what movies, politicians, and anti-rights lobbyists
portray them to be.
Rules:
To qualify as a newbie, the person has to fit into the "never touched a gun before" or "haven't shot a gun since that .22 when I was a kid" category. You know who I'm talking about.
You must offer basic firearms safety training (4 rules, operation instructions for models of firearm they will be shooting, etc.) You are not required to be a certified instructor, just safe.
If you are being paid as an instructor, it doesn't count. Sorry, but some instructors would get 30 points in 4 hours.
You are not required to pay for all expenses, but that certainly helps convincing people to go with you.
You don't have to actually write a gun blog, you just have to read them.
Pictures are encouraged!
Start Date: 1 Oct 2007 (Let me know if you have a qualifying range trip)
I will be the final judge in all things, but I am always open to critique, criticism. and malicious insults.
People have requested that I award bonus points for the newbie deciding to buy a gun. The verdict on that is no. Increasing gun sales isn't the point of this competition, although it is a happy byproduct. I don't think someone who has only shot a gun once or twice has any business owning a gun, unless they plan on practicing regularly, at which point they are no longer newbies, but "converts".
Next go-round, I'm probably not going to count range time with more than 2 newbies. One reason for this is "volunteer instructors", who I respect greatly, but it throws a kink into a points-based competition like this. The other reason is because I believe one-on-one time is extremely important for newbies to be safe, feel comfortable, and hopefully decide to do it again.
I am willing to accept to donations for prizes. Cash is fine, but I'd prefer merchandise. The thing is, my personal budget is limited, so I can't ever supply really cool stuff (like, I dunno, a new rifle) for a competition like this. If a few people or companies pitch in, the prize could be enough motivation to keep people excited about it.
