Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division gathered on the bleachers on Range 79 at Fort Bragg for Designated Marksman training. What made the class unique was that it was conducted by select members the Army Reserve Shooting Team.
Shooting Competitions Help Gunsmiths
April 2, 2012 — John M. Buol Jr.Shooting Competitions Help Gunsmiths
Hunting Is Safe!
March 4, 2012 — John M. Buol Jr.Several years ago the National Safety Council (nsc.org) published a report comparing reported injury rates of various activities in blocks of 100,000 participants. Based on their numbers, hunters experienced less than eight incidents via firearm-related injury per block, much safer than the injury rates of ping-pong (15), golf (104), tennis (119), bicycle riding (904), soccer (910) or baseball (2089). Any form of organized shooting range activity, such as a match, is even safer than hunting.
Data compiled recently by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have independently confirmed these numbers. From their web site (cdc.gov/injury/wisqars) the CDC’s WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) is an interactive, online database that provides fatal and nonfatal injury, violent death, and cost of injury data from a variety of trusted sources. Researchers, the media, public health professionals, and the public can use WISQARS data to learn more about the public health and economic burden associated with unintentional and violence-related injury in the United States.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation tallied the CDC’s numbers on WISQARS and reconfirmed what sane people with firearms experience already knew: Shooting and hunting with firearms is safe. In fact, shooting and hunting with firearms is one of the safest recreational activities in America. The NSSF’s report on the CDC’s compiled data shows hunting ranks third in safety when compared to 28 other recreational pursuits, ranging from baseball to wrestling. Hunting with firearms has an injury rate of 0.05 percent, which equates to about 1 injury per 2,000 participants, a safety level bettered only by camping (.01 percent) and billiards (.02 percent). For comparison, golf has an injury rate of 0.16 percent (1 injury per 622 participants), while tackle football topped the list of activities with an injury rate of 5.27 percent (1 injury per 19 participants).
“Many people have the misconception that hunting is unsafe, but the data tells a different story,” said Jim Curcuruto, NSSF’s director of industry research and analysis. “Comprehensive hunter education classes that emphasize the basic rules of firearm safety and a culture of hunters helping fellow hunters practice safe firearms handling in the field are responsible for this good record.”
To put hunting’s safety standing into perspective, compared to hunting a person is:
- 11 times more likely to be injured playing volleyball
- 19 times more likely to be injured snowboarding
- 25 times more likely to be injured cheerleading or bicycle riding
- 34 times more likely to be injured playing soccer or skateboarding
- 105 more times likely to be injured playing tackle football.
16.3 million hunters took the field last year and approximately 8,122 of them sustained injuries of any kind (50 per 100,000 participants.) The vast majority of hunting injuries – more than 6,600 – were tree stand-related.
It’s not just in the hunting fields that firearms are being used safely either. The CDC also reports that firearms constitute just 1/2 of 1 percent of all unintentional fatalities in the United States, including those in the home.
The injury data NSSF used to compile this hunter-safety report comes from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the Consumer Products Safety Commission 2010 and the International Hunter Education Association’s Hunter Incident Clearinghouse. Activity participation figures are from the National Sporting Goods Association Sports Participation in 2010 report.
Read more in our March 2012 issue. Back issues are available.
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Hunting License Sales
February 1, 2012 — John M. Buol Jr.Families Afield is a joint program launched in 2004 by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, US Sportsmen’s Alliance and National Wild Turkey Federation to reduce regulatory barriers to youth hunting. Now established in 29 states that have passed legislation intended to increase youth hunting, the program has realized increases in new hunters. Families Afield has reported that in their first five years nearly 400,000 apprentice hunting licenses have been sold. An increase of 100,000 apprentice hunting licenses occurred in 2009 alone.
Chris Dolnack, senior vice president of NSSF, reported, “A lot of research went into making sure Families Afield was planned properly before its launch, and now because of that preparation Families Afield is really starting to pay dividends for youth hunters and for hunting in general.”
States with the most apprentice hunting license sales are Pennsylvania with 102,663, Michigan with 59,929 and Ohio at 51,416.
Families Afield is based on the simple premises that parents, not politicians, should decide at what age a child is mature enough to try hunting and that when introducing a youngster to hunting, earlier is better. The need for this program became apparent when a study revealed that hunting regulations in many states did not allow youth to hunt with an adult mentor until sometimes 12 years old or later. The age restriction plus stringent coursework and certification requirements were deterrents to getting started, making it much easier for children to channel their enthusiasms into video games and organized youth sports.
These barriers were reducing the number of youngsters participating in hunting. Researchers found that for every 100 hunters lost, only 69 were taking their place. If this “hunter replacement ratio” was not improved hunting itself could be compromised, along with its critical ties to wildlife conservation and America’s economy. Families Afield’s answer was to allow licensed adult mentors to introduce youngsters to hunting at younger ages, instilling the passion for hunting in children early and safely, thereby bonding families together and increasing attendance in hunter education classes.
According to an NSSF-funded study carried out by Southwick Associates, the pool of hunters in America is much larger than previously thought. The study estimated that 21.8 million people purchased a hunting license at least once in the last five years. Hunters are the backbone of conservation funding in America, contributing more than $1 billion each year through the purchase of licenses, tags, permits and stamps and through excise taxes paid on firearms and ammunition. According to a 12-state hunting license sales index, NSSF anticipates a national increase in paid hunting license holders based on an already-realized 3.5 percent increase in license sales.
Families Afield is predicted to have a long-term, positive effect on hunting by creating millions of new hunters. While the program’s numbers are impressive it is still in the early stages. To learn more about Families Afield and about your state’s hunting regulations, visit familiesafield.org.
Read more in our February 2012 issue. Back issues are available.
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Rich, Famous And Armed
January 1, 2012 — John M. Buol Jr.I always find it amusing to see how non-gun owners view firearms. The New York Times ran an article about rich and famous people that <gasp!> actually own firearms. Here’s an excerpt from The Rich, the Famous, the Armed by Jo Craven McGinty.
Read more in our January 2012 issue. Back issues are available.
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