Did you know that August is National Shooting Sports Month?

With everything you see in the news today, unfortunately, this little piece of information probably isn’t going to be one of them. We here at Review This Thing, however, don’t want you to miss out on the opportunity to support something really wonderful.

What is National Shooting Sports Month?

I’m so glad you asked! In case you don’t know, there are a lot of different shooting sports. Hunting is not the only reason people enjoy shooting firearms (although, it’s a pretty good one).

Shooters all over the country participate in a variety of shooting sports, including skeet and sporting clays shooting, 3-Gun competitions, Cowboy Action Shooting, Buffalo matches, high power rifle, air gun, and long-range precision shooting.

Plus, there are all the folks who just like to go to the range on a regular basis to practice and make sure they are well prepared if ever they needed to use their everyday carry gun.

And, let’s not forget about the hunters!

We all want to make sure we are more than ready to take a clean, ethical shot on a game animal if given the chance!

Target shooting, for whatever purpose, is a very popular past time in our country.

As a matter of fact, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), who sponsors the National Shooting Sports Month, over 19 million Americans safely enjoy target shooting on a fairly regular basis.

So, what can you do to celebrate National Shooting Sports Month?

One thing you can do is to help educate others on the fun and enjoyment you have from participating in shooting sports. A great way to do this is by participating in what the NSSF refers to as the +One Movement.

The idea of the +One Movement is that very often it only takes one trip to the range with a friend to find that love of shooting.

Find a friend that may not be very familiar with shooting, or maybe hasn’t ever shot a gun, and ask them if they would like to go to the range with you.

Then be a great host!

In our experience, the people we have taken to the range become much more comfortable with shooting and talk about how much fun they had.

As a matter of fact, if you saw the article I posted a few weeks ago, you read about my friends from work that we took to do a shooting lesson. Neither of them had ever fired a handgun before that day.

They both had such a great time that they have come with me to the range a couple more times to help with the “Best 9mm Handgun” test video we posted on our Review This Thing YouTube channel.

Additionally, both friends are talking about signing up for classes to obtain their concealed carry permits and practicing much more frequently. They went from being non-shooters to really enjoying shooting in just one day.

The NSSF may know what they’re talking about with the +One Movement.

Another way you can celebrate National Shooting Sports Month is by finding a shooting sports team to support.

If you check out the Midway USA Foundation website, you will see that they are highly committed to helping promote youth shooting sports across the country. I think this is an awesome mission and an area we all need to be supporting.

In my opinion, one of the best ways to make sure youth know how to safely and properly handle and respect a firearm is to teach them how.

And, what better way for a young person to learn this respect and skill than to actually go to a range and learn how to get even better at it.

I’ve talked to people at events and heard stories about how getting into shooting sports or hunting changed their lives.

They may not have been very good at or interested in “traditional” sports like football or basketball. Or, they weren’t musically talented and didn’t join the band.

But they found a place to belong and excel in the shooting sports.

If you’ve been shooting guns very long, you know how rewarding it can be when you hit the bullseye on a target, knock down a steel plate, or blast a clay out of the sky. Wouldn’t you want someone else to get to experience that for themselves?

If so, celebrate National Shooting Sports month by taking someone to the range and making it a fantastic day for them.

You can go on the NSSF or NSSM websites to get even more resources and information.

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#LetsGoShooting