I’m not going to beat around the bush. Here’s what I’d like to see from a renewed NRA Competitions Division.

First, and foremost, the NRA needs to utilize competitions to activate more of its members. As NRA Past President John Sigler noted in his open letter the “NRA competitive shooters are the solid backbone of NRA and that it is the competitive shooting community that makes the rest of NRA happen.”

A renewed NRA Competitions Division needs to prioritize getting NRA members out to matches on a regular basis. More members shooting competition means a stronger membership base built on the foundation of the competition community.

It also means new members. The shooting sports are an obvious gateway to NRA membership. Once you get into shooting a local match you’re not competing but joining your friends in competition. And now you’re a joiner and joining those new friends as a member of the NRA is an obvious next step.

Second, by all means, put effort into the legacy competitions of Smallbore, High Power Rifle, and Precision Pistol, but don’t make these the be all, end all of the Division’s work. These are legacy matches and by legacy I mean they have an aging and dwindling shooter base.

There is also a financial and equipment barrier to entry that’s hard for new and younger shooters to meet. Growing these sports from older shooters isn’t a growth plan, it’s a maintenance plan to keep these off life support.

If the NRA can find a way to breath new life, i.e. bring in new, younger shooters, then great. But if not I wouldn’t go crazy putting too many budget eggs into this particular basket.

Third, while the NRA World Shooting Championship is cool and all, with just 213 competitors at the 2024 match it is a marquee event that I’m guessing is more for sponsors than NRA members.

By-the-way, the 213 competitors this year represent a whopping 0.0051% of the NRA’s membership (assuming 4.2M members).

To create value this match needs to grow. And I’m not talking 10 or 20 percent growth. I’m talking double the number of competitors. The goal should be to have 400 to 500 competing in 2025.

The problem with marquee events, though, is that they are complex and by their very nature self-limiting as to the number of competitors that can enter. So, again, not a solid growth strategy.

The marquee events need to at least generate marquee media coverage in local media markets around the country. It’s not much of a showcase of the greatest shooters if nobody sees the show.

As you can see, I’ve been thinking a bit too much about what a renewed NRA Competitions Division could mean since I wrote about the need for aggressive public relations from the Division. As the ‘NRA 2.0’ rebuilds its credibility, coffers, and, most importantly, staff morale, it needs to also rebuild its depleted Competitions Division.

It needs a new direction that doesn’t abandon the past but also doesn’t cling too desperately to that past. The glory days of NRA shooting events are far enough behind us that resurrecting them to their former glory is highly unlikely.

Competition shooting is not simply an individual sport. When you compete you take your place in a larger connected community of shooters. And it’s not just local clubs but a nationwide network of clubs. Competitive shooters are a vast but tight community with different disciplines but similar motivations.

This network of shooters, clubs, and competitions is vital to the NRA’s mission in promoting safety, recreational shooting, and Second Amendment advocacy. A message delivered at a local match can travel all across the country in a short time. A message that comes from NRA HQ on a vital issue is quickly amplified throughout towns all across America by the community of shooters.

The shooting community is a living, breathing grassroots machine and the NRA needs to nurture it with strong, passionate leadership – and the appropriate funding – of a robust Competitions Division.

If a newly stood up NRA Competitions Division, staffed with those passionate about growing the shooting sports and able to not get stuck in the past, can get thousands, tens of thousands, or even 100,000 NRA members out competing weekly or even monthly in a fun, engaging format the impact on the organization could be dramatic.

And its value to the industry, to gun owners, and to the preservation of our Second Amendment rights would be transformative.

– Paul Erhardt, Managing Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network