A Shot in the Dark
Visually Impaired Shooters Make History!
Through inspiration and teamwork, visually impaired marksmen establish their spot on the shooting line, making history in the NRA-Beeman series.
The NRA-Beeman Grand Prix Championship is considered one of the nation's most challenging shooting sports titles to win, because each competitor's skill and determination is tested at 12 different locations. The match conditions vary immensely throughout the season, from early March events in northeastern Ohio where the wheelchair athletes usually have to contend with a snowstorm, to the 106 degree heat of July at the competition in Fresno, CA.
The honor of being recognized as the nation's top disabled marksman has fostered an intense competition for the title. In 2003, Deborah Lewis of Irondale, AL, won the individual grand championship in a convincing manner. But in the 2004 title chase, she finished in second by just one point after 12 events. The 2005 tour saw Lewis regain the NRA-Beeman championship crown by a one-point margin over Mike Dickey of Trafford, AL. The 2004 defending champion, Barbaro Ponce of Atlanta, GA, took home third-place honors.
Frank Javorka of Lititz, PA, claimed his second consecutive NRA-Beeman National Pistol Championship title. The Lakeshore Foundation of Birmingham, AL won the 2005 NRA-Beeman Team Championship, making it the fifth time in seven years they've been awarded the top honor. Team members were Lewis, Dickey and Cornelius Wilson. Runner-up laurels went to the Shepherd Rehabilitation Center team from Atlanta, GA, with Pennsylvania's Palmyra Patriots taking third. The event that established national shooting-sports history occurred July 8, at the Nitro, WV, competition. On that day, Eric Tissenbaum of Nitro became the first visually impaired marksman to compete against full-sighted marksmen in a national-level precision air rifle competition. Tissenbaum's score of 423 out of a possible 600 points ranked him 16th out of 20 competitors, ahead of four sighted marksmen.
This landmark development was the result of research conducted by Dave Baskin, manager of NRA Disabled Shooting Services. By the time Tissenbaum came to take his place on the firing line, Baskin had satisfactorily addressed the important challenges of safety, target identification, communication integrity and the parity between marksmen using visual indicators and those utilizing verbal ones.
A designated-assistant system was selected, whereby a sighted partner would verbally guide the visually impaired marksman in the aiming and shooting process, while closely monitoring all safety considerations. A similar partnering system for blind hunters has been employed for more than 40 years and has proven so successful and safe that many states permit its use.
Several items of equipment that were applied in an adaptive manner played a pivotal role in this historic event. Baskin designed a rifle and sight combination that allowed the assistant to sit beside the marksman and guide them, while being within reach of the equipment at all times. In the interest of shooting sports development, Crosman Airguns volunteered to work with Baskin to build an air rifle for this purpose. The Crosman Challenger 2000 was equipped with a laser projection device that was mounted where the rear sight is usually affixed. This combination allowed the assistant to follow the red dot on the target and relay the information to the shooter.
Consistent accuracy is the goal of all target shooting events, making this goal appear outside the realm of possibility for a blind marksman. However, Baskin was able to utilize a piece of equipment in a way that allowed the blind marksman to know the exact location of the rifle barrel at all times. Usually reserved for those competitors with reduced upper body strength, a rifle support stand was assigned a new function as a fixed reference point from which the visually impaired marksman could physically recognize the horizontal and vertical positioning of the gun's barrel. This unique application of the support stand was enhanced by the fact that most blind people possess a more highly developed muscle memory than a sighted person. The design of the stand also provided an additional safety benefit by mechanically limiting the rifle's range of motion to the immediate target and backstop area.
Since an individual's visual impairment may vary widely from person to person, it became clear that a method was needed to ensure fair competition for all marksmen participating in this category. A decision was made to require a standard eye cover to be worn by these particular competitors. This rule also guaranteed that the marksman's concentration upon their assistant's verbal commands would not be compromised by any potential visual distractions. While researching this project, Baskin discovered that the command to fire often caught the marksman by surprise, causing a less-than-perfect shot. To solve this dilemma, he introduced the use of a precursor, or warning word, to precede the command to fire. The precursor alerted the marksman to the fact that the firing command was about to follow. The progress made by the 2005 NRA-Beeman Tour was an achievement of major proportions for the more than 3 million Americans with visual impairments and blindness.
For more information about NRA Disabled Shooting Programs, contact Dave Baskin at (703) 267-1495.
Special Offer from DYNASLUG
CALXYN Ordnance is offering a 10% discount on Dynaslug Hunting Ammunition to NRA Members. No matter your big game hunting specialty, DYNASLUG has sub-caliber and full-caliber slugs to meet your needs.
Simply send your original receipt of purchase plus the UBS code from the slug boxes to CALXYN Ordnance for your 10% discount.
Refer to Offer Code: 1707
A portion of the retailer sales will be donated to The NRA Foundation's Endowment Programs.
Send ordering information to:
CALXYN Ordnance
12471 Dillingham Square #307
Woodbridge, VA 22192
or email calxynordnance@aol.com
Payment may be made by check, money order, Visa or Mastercard.
Special Offer from ISE Games
ISE Games is offering special discounts on their popular shooting sports computer games. A portion of all game sales goes to support NRA programs through The NRA Foundation's Endowment Programs.
- Daisy® Air Gun Fun -- Teaches young people about safe shooting while providing a fun and challenging game. $19.99 Free trial game offer!
- NRA Varmint Hunter -- An exciting game for hunting enthusiasts featuring a high degree of realism and education in the art of long range shooting. $9.99 Free trial game offer!
- NRA High Power Competition -- True-to-life simulation of the super competitive world of high power shooting. $9.99 Free trial game offer!
- Xtreme Accuracy Shooting -- Teaches all the fundamentals to build your accuracy to the ultimate level. $$9.99 Free trial game offer!
To purchase any of the ISE Games products at a 15% discount, visit www.isegames.com and use promo code NRAOFF700 in the appropriate checkout field.
Excellent Performance Awards
National Rifle Association (NRA) Excellent Performance Awards (EPA) program offers incentives to develop shooting skills in competitive shooting using various courses of fire for rifle, air rifle, pistol, and shotgun. EPAs are open to all shooters interested in competitive shooting. In each discipline (Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun) there are six awards in the EPA program (bronze, silver, and gold in both large and small pins) that can be earned through competitions and obtained from the National Coach Trainer for each course of fire.
The purpose of the EPA program is to offer a challenge to the shooter as they develop their shooting skills in competitive shooting. By participating in postals, leagues, and local shoulder-to-shoulder matches you can earn the small pins. To earn the large pins you must compete in sanctioned tournaments. Qualifying scores for the EPAs are earned only in competition and are fired during competitions under appropriate rules as defined in the tournament programs. Any trainer or competition official may verify qualifying scores.
When a shooter begins the EPA program he will find that the qualifying scores are fairly easy while earning the Small Bronze Pin. Competition skills will improve and the qualifying scores for the EPAs will become higher and more challenging as the shooter competes in more tournaments. After earning the third of the three small pins (the small gold pin), the shooter will start working on the large pins (large bronze, silver, and gold pins).
Earning the large EPA pins requires higher level qualifying scores. A shooter may fire a qualifying score, followed by a non-qualifying score, and then shoot another qualifying score -- both qualifying scores count. All pins must be earned in order. By the time a shooter earns the large gold pin, he or she should be shooting at the Master level of proficiency; that is the goal of the EPA program.
EPAs are not earned quickly. It may take up to two years to complete the EPA program. It will take a shooter who does not attend the National Championships a minimum of 21 tournaments to earn the large gold pin. A shooter who attends a National Championship and fires a qualifying score automatically earns their next award. Tournament bulletins, where the shooter's name and scores are printed, are used to verify each level of achievement. This is an "Honor System" program.
Want to know more? Contact the National Coach Trainer (703-267-1401 or hmoody@nrahq.org), and ask for a program brochure for smallbore rifle, air rifle, pistol, or shotgun. All pins may be ordered directly through the National Coach Trainer.
Visit the Following Web Links:
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materials.nrahq.org
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National Firearms Museum:
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Special Offers:
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The NRA Foundation and Grants Programs:
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