NRA Journal - Summer 2004 - National Rifle Association

Under Home Office regulations the NRA may applyfor permission to run up to two Open Days each year.NRA Open Days, which can only be run at Bisley,allow members of the public to turn up on the dayand, after registration, they are able to try a variety ofdifferent disciplines and learn more about targetshooting under one-to-one safety supervision. It is agreat opportunity to raise awareness amongst nonshooters,so that they gain a better general understandingof what target shooting is all about. Theycan also learn a little about the history of the NRAand ultimately they may be encouraged to join a club,thus bringing more people into the shooting sports.This year it was decided to try to run one Open Dayin May and a second Open Day in September. TheNational Shooting Centre made a deliberate decisionto ‘go local’ with the first of these two days and try toraise awareness of the NRA and Bisley within theimmediate area. Therefore, in the weeks beforehand,a press release was published in ‘What’s On inWoking’ and a leaflet drop to all homes in the Wokingarea via the community newspaper was arranged.Posters were also displayed in local shops andbusinesses. NRA members were informed throughthe NRA Journal, the membership e-mail system andflyers. Clubhouses at Bisley were asked to displaynotices about the Open Day.Much thought and preparation was given to try tomake the day a unique experience for people. So itwas with some despondency that we watched andlistened to the gloomy weather forecasts during thepreceding week. On cue the promised rain and stormsarrived and threatened a wash out. However,Saturday morning dawned overcast, but dry and asthe doors opened at 9.00am a steady trickle of guestsarrived.The numbers of visitors grew steadily throughout theday so that by the end 398 members of the public hadregistered to shoot. Many families brought childrenwith them and although some were too young to shoot20NRA OPEN DAY SATURDAY 1 MAYby Phyllis Farnan••• WANTED •••7.62mm FIRED CARTRIDGE CASESTOP PRICES PAIDFOR CLEAN, UNDAMAGED BRASS.COLLECTION FROM BISLEY CAMP,OR ELSEWHERE BY ARRANGEMENT.For further information please contactA. FORD TEL/FAX 0121 453 6329ALSO REQUIRED - .303 BRASS, G.P.M.G. LINKS,CHARGER AND STRIPPER CLIPS, ETC.on Melville or Century, they were able to take part inthe Open Day air rifle, laser clay and archery events.After registration in the main NRA Offices, guestswere able follow the yellow signs around camp to thedifferent venues. On Century Range the visitors couldtry a variety of fullbore rifles; they could choosebetween a telescopic sniper rifle firing at a McQueencastle target or modern target rifles at 300 yards orthey could go back in time with the Lee Enfield RifleAssociation and the Historical Breechloading ShootersAssociation. Several guests who had war-time orNational Service experience expressed their delightat being able to see and try a Lee Enfield again. Thedisplay tent at the back of the range also proved to bea very popular attraction.On Melville Range visitors could experience the funof firing the muzzle loading black powder pistols, .22”gallery rifles and .22” target rifles. We are grateful tothe members of the Brighton Rifle and Pistol Club whoprovided most of the coaches for this range. Melvillewas busy all day with many guests buying moretickets for extra shoots.Winans Range was used for air rifle and was verypopular especially with the younger shooters. Thisrange was set up at short notice as we had originallyexpected to have one of the NSRA portable air ranges.Our thanks go to Les Gay and the NRA coaches whowere drafted in and who managed this event sosuccessfully.The Shotgun Range and the NCSC Pavilion provedto be a great attraction with many guests, while bothyoung and old were able to have fun with the laserclays. The Bisley Bowmen, who ran the archery eventon Exhibition Lawn, reported record numbers andthey continued long after the ranges had closed forthe day as many guests continued to queue to ‘have ago’. The NRA Museum and the display of NRA silvertrophies were also popular with many visitors.Although the intention had been to target the localcommunity on this Open Day, a glance at theregistration forms shows that many guests travelledconsiderable distances. We attracted visitors not onlyfrom all over Surrey but also from Hampshire,Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, BuckinghamshireHertfordshire, West Sussex, Gloucestershire, London,Kent, Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Wales and Scotland.The next Open Day will be on Saturday 4 Septemberwhen we will do it all again; we are currently planningto have even more activities available, so please makea note of the date, tell your friends and acquaintancesand help to make the next Open Day an even biggersuccess.Right: Scenes from the NRA Open Day.(Photos: Karen Robertson)