Welcome to By Melissa Betts Event Services Coordinator, Field Operations
The National Rifle Association, the nation’s leading defender of Americans’ Second Amendment rights is also home of the nation’s busiest public indoor shooting range. By 1994, the NRA had outgrown its location in downtown Washington, D.C., compelling the organization to move to Fairfax, Va., a bustling suburb directly outside of the nation’s capitol. The move allowed NRA to expand its grassroots efforts nationwide as well as offer a range as a public service to its new community. The construction of its state-of-the-art indoor shooting range began shortly after the move and was complete and open for business in 1996 grabbing national attention. Since its opening, the range has seen an assortment of “face lifts” Michael Johns, Manager of the NRA Range said, “We strive to uphold the facility with efforts of excellence. This involves incorporating high quality and modern features to allow us to maintain the safety of our visitors and keep up a top-notch range.” The staff at the NRA Range has significant pride 6 l club connection l Volume 17, Number 4
in its facility and ensures a quality experience for visitors. Johns has been a part of the range team since May 2005 and became the newly appointed Manager in late February 2012. “Being a part of this exceptional team has given me immense insight to the field and experience that I value to uphold in my new position,” shared Johns. The family-friendly facility is regularly busy six-days a week and “goes through an average of four million rounds of ammunition a year,” said Johns. The high volume of visitors coming through the range constantly has staff on their feet and considerate of being green. “We continually salvage thousands of pounds of recyclable material from the range,” said Johns. “The facility is also comprised with two independent air handling systems that expels cleaner air then the air coming in.” This modern shooting range is open to members and the general public with wheelchair accessibility and is one of the few 50-yard indoor
ranges available to the public. The range consists of 15 shooting booths, each with an automatic target retrieval system where targets can reach any distance from seven to 150 feet. The range is also comprised of a new sound baffling system and unique backstop down range permitting shooters to fire pistol calibers up to .500 S&W, rifle calibers up to and including .460 Weatherby Magnum, and shotguns with use of slugs only. All guests must complete a written NRA Range Test before granted access on the range. The test includes multiple choice and true or false questions on fundamental gun and range safety rules, as well as range operational rules. “There is more to gun and range safety than simply wearing eye and ear protection,” said Johns. “Safety is imperative at the range and we always have a range officer walking the line to ensure the safety of shooters and provide assistance.” continued on page 13