November 4, 2013

Hundreds Take Their ‘First Shots’ in Atlanta Metro Area

Casey Retterer, the director of training at Sandy Springs Gun Club and Range, summed it up best this past weekend: “There are a lot of barriers for people to learn about firearms. It can be intimidating, it can be overwhelming. This is a huge opportunity for us to educate the community about what firearms are actually about. People come in overwhelmed, they come in intimidated, and they leave very happy.”

Eleven ranges around the Atlanta metro area teamed up with NSSF to hold 77 First Shots seminars Friday through Sunday. All in all, more than 600 people took their First Shots.

The seminars were part of NSSF’s First Shots Big City Tour, which over the past couple of years has also visited the Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Sacramento, Miami and Houston areas.

“I’d never shot a gun before,” said Joyce Hamilton of Stone Mountain, Ga., who attended a First Shots seminar at Range, Guns and Safes in Atlanta. “This was a very good starting point. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to become more familiar with guns.”

The First Shots program, developed by NSSF, has provided a supportive introduction to firearms ownership to thousands of people in hundreds of seminars nationwide. According to program research, half the individuals who have attended the seminars go on to meet their local requirements for handgun ownership and have introduced another person to their newfound sport of target shooting.

“I’ve already gotten four or five emails from people that have taken these classes asking, ‘What’s the next class I should take?’ or ‘What do I need to do next?’ or ‘When can I come in again?’,” said Retterer.

First Shots is made possible by support from NSSF and many industry partners.

The Atlanta area ranges that held First Shots seminars this past weekend were: