We’re smack dab in the middle of National Shooting Sports Month, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife is celebrating in a big way on Saturday.
The department is waiving all of the fees for using public ranges tomorrow, and at two of the state-operated ranges new shooters and would-be gun owners will be able to get some free hands-on instruction.
From 10 AM to 2 PM at the Delaware Wildlife Area range in Ashley and the Spring Valley Wildlife Area range in Waynesville, staff will be on hand to give folks some basic knowledge on safe shooting and gun handling, and will provide the equipment, ammunition and eye and ear protection for participants.
I doubt either of these ranges will end up with the same crowd of several thousand who recently turned out in Taylor, Michigan for a weekend of free firearm instruction, but I do expect that both ranges will be busy. There is a huge demand for firearms instruction, and when it comes free of charge the demand only grows.
Ohio is one of just a few states that open up public ranges free of charge at any point during National Shooting Sports Month. The two Utah Division of Wildlife Resources shooting ranges provided free and discounted shooting on earlier this month, and historically Alabama has done something similar in the past, but I can’t find any information that indicates the state will be waiving fees or providing instruction at any of its public ranges in August.
I hope that more states will follow the lead of Ohio and Utah, because this is a great way to introduce people to the shooting sports. The National Shooting Sports Foundation recently highlighted 14 governors who’ve issued proclamations or other recognition of National Shooting Sports Month, though oddly enough neither Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine nor Utah Gov. Spencer Cox made the list.
Some states offer ranges that are free to the public year-round, including South Dakota’s new Pete Lien & Sons Shooting Sports Complex. Virginia has a number of “sighting-in” ranges that are open to the public free-of-charge, and though handguns are not allowed at those ranges there are also seven ranges operating in national forests in the state where you can plink away with a pistol.
NSSF is also conducting its Let Freedom Plink campaign in conjunction with our nation’s 250th birthday, and you can search for participating businesses and ranges in your state at www.shootingsportsmonth.org/events/.
We write a lot about the serious side of the Second Amendment here at Bearing Arms, but beyond the legal, legislative, and cultural fights over our right to keep and bear arms, there’s the simple fact that shooting is fun. And honestly, I think it’s even more fun when you get the chance to take someone shooting for the first time or give them an experience they’ve never had before. My late wife Miss E, for instance, was already a pretty good shot with her Henry rifle, but she was still so excited the first time she turned a clay target into dust when we went sporting clays shooting with John Petrolino and Charlie Cook.
If you can, give someone their own first shots this month. And if you’re in Ohio, you can do it free of charge tomorrow… though I’d get to the two participating ranges as early as possible so you can make sure they’ve got space for you.
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