The Keefe Report: Be a Mentor to a New Shooter

by
posted on August 11, 2020
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
ment.jpg

According to some sources, as many as 2 million Americans have become new firearm owners since the beginning of this year. As an NRA member, you are an influencer and likely know someone who has recently chosen to exercise their Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

NRA, chartered in 1871, is an educational, recreational and public service organization dedicated to the right of the individual citizen to own and use firearms for recreation and defense. Every law-abiding firearm owner of good repute should be an NRA member. Many of those who purchased firearms over the last six months did so for protection of themselves, their families and their homes—and it is NRA that protects their right to do so. You should encourage them to join.

For nearly a century and a half, NRA has been the leader in firearm safety training, and the association continues that role to this day. In addition to the training resources offered by NRA’s Safety & Education Dept., American Rifleman offers information not just to our members, but also for all those interested in responsible firearm ownership at americanrifleman.org.

Written by Digital Managing Editor Evan Brune, “The NRA: Your Resource For Firearm Training And Knowledge” (americanrifleman.org/resources) concisely describes NRA’s role in firearm safety through the NRA Education & Training Division. This includes a number of distance learning classes, with “Basics of Pistol Shooting” being one of them.

There is also “The New Gun Owner Guide: 3 Essential First Steps“ that begins with NRA’s safety rules and offers some resources for beginning shooters. It also links to the NRA Publications Mentor Program, and there are several articles that every new gun owner should read—as well as a helpful video on gun safety basics. You can learn more at americanrifleman.org/mentor.

But in the pages of this magazine and online we also dig deeper than basic firearm safety. For those who purchased a carbine in the past six months—or at any time really—we enlisted one of today’s most respected trainers, Sgt./Maj. Kyle E. Lamb (Ret.), to cover things every AR carbine owner should learn.

In his article “The AR-15: Best Home Defense Gun?,” he wrote: “The AR is very easy to shoot. Head out to the range and test my theory. Ask anyone who wants to join in on the fun to try shooting a scored event, under pressure, with a pistol at home-defense ranges. After you see their performance, try the same with an AR, I will bet money you see much better control of the system.”

You can read the story at americanrifleman.org/arhome. We actually asked him to do a series on the carbine called “AR 101,” which also includes stories on basic AR shooting positions and another on how to zero the AR, all of which are online.

But it’s not just with the modern carbine that we offer more advanced techniques. We went to retired FBI agent Bill Vanderpool, who was one of the last to teach FBI agents how to use double-action revolvers, with an in-depth article on “Running the Gun: Double-Action Revolver Revisited.” This article would be very useful to any new revolver owner, as well as anyone who has had one for decades (americanrifleman.org/double-action).

Every day, the staff editors of American Rifleman post content to americanrifleman.org. Whether you’re interested in new firearm evaluations, the history of the gun, firearm safety or just being a better shooter, there’s something there for everyone—and it’s all just a click away.

Latest

Woman covering rifle target
Woman covering rifle target

Why This DOJ Opinion on Handgun Ownership Matters

The DOJ Office of Legal Counsel recently released an opinion concluding that the federal ban on licensed firearms dealers selling handguns to 18-20-year-old U.S. citizens is unconstitutional.

I Have This Old Gun: Czech vz.27

Following World War I, Czechoslovakia needed to equip its new army, and one of its priorities was to select a service sidearm, which ultimately became the vz.27.

Rimfire M1 Refined: The Chiappa Bushranger

Italian manufacturer Chiappa is not afraid to take an original design and give it a modern twist. New for 2026, the company is taking its rimfire M1 carbine design one step further with the Bushranger.

TriStar Arms Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Established in 1996 by the father-and-son team of Gus and Ryan Bader, TriStar Arms has grown into one of the firearm industry’s most respected names in value-driven products.

Optic on an Optic: Why You Should Add a Red-Dot to Your LPVO

Why is it that, suddenly, it seems like everyone is running around with little red-dot sights mounted on top of low-power, variable optics? Well, it turns out there are reasons for that.

How Accurate are Today’s Rifles?

In just the last few decades, rifle accuracy has improved an astonishing amount, and our expectations have risen accordingly.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.