A Place for Everyone—Finding a Shooting Range, Part VI

Learning to shoot doesn’t begin and end with a range and an instructor. In fact, it’s the feeling of camaraderie and family so many experience their first time on the range that keeps them coming back and exploring all that firearm ownership and the shooting sports have to offer.

While Googling is the fastest and easiest way to find both a firearm range and instructor who can help you take your first shots, there are many other resources out there for shooters and firearm owners of all skill levels, including beginners, that you may not know to look for. Collectively, the following rundown represents a variety of groups and organizations working to improve and promote safe and responsible firearm ownership and use. Some of them go about that through hands-on training for groups of like-minded people, others do their work through activism and politics. What and who you want to get involved with is entirely up to you, we’re just letting you know what’s out there. Three notes:

First, every organization we’ve listed here has a national footing. There also are hundreds of secondary organizations, local club chapters of the national organizations, and groups of like-minded people across the country who formed their own shooting clubs at their local ranges. Though we couldn’t possibly list all those smaller clubs and national chapter off-shoots here, this should give you a start before you start Googling.

Second, none of what you’ll read here is an endorsement or promotion of these organizations, and we’ve presented them in alphabetical order to keep it neutral. We’ve also specifically not included those groups considered radical, with ties to militias, that are explicitly racist or discriminatory, or that promote gun control and the dissolution of the 2nd Amendment. Finally, shooting-sports organizations will be covered in another column.

1. 4-H Shooting Sports—This youth education and mentoring organization may be best known for helping kids win blue ribbons at the county fair with an Angus steer or a jar of jam, it’s also well-regarded for its youth-oriented curriculums on firearm safety, shooting instruction, and hunting skills.
2. A Girl and a Gun—With hundreds of chapters and classes taught at ranges all across the country, A Girl and a Gun is a women’s only organization that provides education and friendly competition to its members in handgun, rifle, and shotgun disciplines.
3. American Women Who Bear Arms—This is a Second Amendment advocacy and information organization that works to give women a voice in this arena.
4. American Muslim Gun Owners Association—Established as a community-service Facebook group, the “American Muslim Gun Owners Association provides a forum for Muslims to express their love and appreciation for American ideals of Firearms & Personal Liberty.”
5. Armed Equality—Primarily developed for the benefit of the LGBTQ+ community, Armed Equality seeks to build “a strong and inclusive community of diverse individuals who seek the skills needed to defend their lives” and is “dedicated to the defense and protection of all Americans, from all walks of life, especially targeted minorities.
6. Asian Pacific American Gun Owners Association—APAGOA is a non-profit organization that advocates for firearm safety education and provides news and education pertaining generally to firearm ownership for all gun owners and specifically Asian Pacific Americans.
7. Black Guns Matter—Founded by hip-hop artist Maj Toure, Black Guns Matter is a non-profit organization that seeks to provide education about Second Amendment rights and promote a better understanding of U.S. gun culture to African Americans, especially those in urban communities.
8. Black Gun Owners Association—Membership in BGOA automatically enrolls you in a gun club in your state. A non-profit, BGOA focuses on safety, education, Second Amendment rights, and camaraderie, while also providing insurance, range, training, and vendor discount resources for its members.
9. Boy Scouts of America/Scouting Shooting Sports—A standard-bearer in providing firearm safety and skills education to millions of boys, Boy Scouts of America also serves as an introduction to the many shooting sports for its members, beginning with its Cub Scouts.
10. Civilian Marksmanship Program—An official U.S. charter organization, the Office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship was created in 1903 by an act of Congress. Its long and revered history of teaching marksmanship to Americans from all walks of life is one worth reading. Today, the CMP focuses sharply on youth development and competition for all ages, with a wide range of competitions across the country, including the annual National Matches held each year at Camp Perry, Ohio. Select firearm models often used in competition, including surplus military long guns such as an M1 Garand or an M1911 pistol, can also be obtained by U.S. citizens who are CMP members, and the CMP e-store has a robust offering of everything from ammunition and targets to books and memorabilia.
11. Diva Women Outdoors Worldwide—DIVA WOW, for short, is an all-volunteer organization that works to help women develop safe firearm handling and shooting skills, provides friendly competition, and support their other pursuits in the outdoors.
12. EmPOWERed—EmPOWERed says it is a project of Gun Owners of America and a movement with foundations on high-school and college campuses nationwide. The movement focuses on gun rights as women’s rights, particularly when it comes to self-defense and Second Amendment issues.
13. G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Really Into Shooting)—Focusing on educating about and promoting firearm safety and the shooting sports to women, G.R.I.T.S. has chapters across the country, though the majority are in the South and Southeast. The organization holds numerous events throughout the year for its members, who also enjoy a number of range and gear discounts as part of their membership.
14. Gun Owners of America—Founded in 1976, GOA is a lobbying organization that works at the local, state, and national levels to fight anti-gun legislation and preserve the 2nd Amendment.
15. Huey P. Newton Gun Club—named for the activist and founder of the Black Panthers Party political organization, the Huey P. Newton Gun Club states that it is “an organization of members from various different groups/organizations coming together in unity to practice our 2nd amendment right "To bear Arms.” … We desire a world of peace, justice, and equality for all humanity, and specifically people of color.” The group is especially focused on educating the Black community, especially its youth, ending police brutality against Black and Brown people, and ending Black-on-Black violence and self-hatred.
16. InHER Piece Ladies Shooting Clubs—Though founded only in 2020, InHer Piece encourages women from all walks of life and background to discover the resources available, many of which have been networked by the organization itself, that enable them to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights. The shooting clubs are dedicated to providing a “‘safe place’ for diversity within the shooting sports and firearm community.”
17. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership—The non-profit JPFO is a membership-based human-rights group, based in Washington, D.C., that welcomes people of all faiths who seek to preserve and exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.
18. Latino Rifle Association—Still young, having been founded in 2020, the LRA is a non-profit membership organization that advocates for gun rights and among the Latino community and Latino gun owners.
19. National African American Gun Association/Black Girls Shoot!—This well-regarded national organization has a stated mission of working to “to establish a fellowship by educating on the rich legacy of gun ownership by African Americans, offering training that supports safe gun use for self-defense and sportsmanship, and advocating for the inalienable right to self-defense for African Americans.” Welcoming people of all races, religions, and social and racial perspectives, the NAAGO has a goal of having “every African American introduced to firearm use for home protection, competitive shooting, and outdoor recreational activities.” Black Girls Shoot is a recognized chapter of the NAAGA.
20. National Association for Gun Rights—This gun-rights advocacy group has approximately 4.5 millions. The organization is on the front lines protecting American gun rights through its PAC and Super Pac, it offers an excellent “Bill Watch” section on its website, and it has an active Foundation that has filed a number of important lawsuits on behalf of legal firearm owners.
21. National Rifle Association—Founded in 1871, the NRA is America’s oldest organization dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training. Over its many decades, it myriad programs have provided education and resources to millions of hunters, shooting sports participants, law enforcement professionals, and private gun owners and collectors, and self-defense and concealed-carry practitioners across the country. Its lobbying arm, the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, works on the local, state, and federal levels to preserve 2nd Amendment rights for American citizens.
22. National Shooting Sports Foundation—NSSF is the trade association for the American firearm industry, providing numerous resources and support to the industry’s manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and ranges. It is the owner of the annual SHOT Show—Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show—a trade-only show that sees the debut of thousands of new products to the consumer market. Its government affairs team works on the state and national levels to fight legislation that impinges on the industry’s legal ability to conduct business, while also supporting those bills that enhance 2nd Amendment rights. The organization’s consumer websites, LetsGoShooting.org and LetsGoHunting.org offer a plethora of education and event resources, while its flagship Project ChildSafe program is the standard-bearer in educating the public about safe and responsible firearm storage.
23. Operation Blazing Swords—With membership open to anyone, Operation Blazing Swords champions firearm safety education and training, discussion about whether firearm ownership is the right decision for an individual, and the resources that provide a comfortable and welcoming environment for the LGBTQ+ community. Founded after the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, this non-profit boasts a roster of more than 1,500 instructors, all volunteers, that are available at nearly 1,000 locations across the 50 states.
24. Pink Pistols—An organization with international standing, the Pink Pistols has 45 chapters in the U.S. that are “dedicated to the legal, safe, and responsible use of firearms for self-defense of the sexual-minority community.” Its website offers a listing of LGBT-friendly instructors, intelligent discourse on the issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community and firearm ownership, and information about its political activism. It works in partnership and is part of Operation Blazing Swords.
25. Second Amendment Foundation—SAF is a non-profit, membership-based, and politically active organization that seeks to educate the public and appointed officials about America’s “Constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms.”
26. Shooting for Women Alliance—This organization has been training women and families on the safe handling of firearms since 2003. Its singular shooting facility, the Family Fun Indoor Range, is in the founder’s home state of Tennessee, and its annual conference draws women from all over the country for its insightful seminars and shooting instruction.
27. Socialist Rifle Association—With a “mission to uphold the right of the working class to keep and bear arms and maintain the skills necessary for self and community defense,” the Socialist Rifle Association is a non-profit social-welfare organization incorporated in Wichita, Kansas. Its website states that it works “to create a platform, environment, and community of members and like-minded individuals that are free of reactionary influences and prejudices, such as racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and other discriminatory ideologies.”
28. State Associations—Each of this country’s states has its own rifle and pistol association that offer a wide array of safety, training, and range facility resources to its members. These associations are recognized by and affiliated with the NRA but operate independently from that organization; you do not need to be a member of the NRA to join your state’s rifle and pistol association.
29. The Hispanic American Rifle Association—Based in Tombstone, Arizona, this organization encourages “those citizens of Hispanic descent to participate in and enjoy benefits from the great heritage recognized by the Bill of Rights to our Constitution, certainly including the Second Amendment and its language ensuring the right of the individual to keep and bear arms.”
30. The Liberal Gun Club—This membership-based organization offers training and marksmanship events across the country, while also providing a space for those of moderate and liberal political leanings to express their voices and debate opinions on firearm ownership and legislation.
31. The Well Armed Woman—Carrie Lightfoot founded TWAW when, after the difficulties of a violent relationship and years of stalking in its aftermath, she realized she needed to take responsibility for her life and safety. Today, TWAW is one of the country’s most recognized and well-respected organizations when it comes to training women in the safe use and handling of firearms, self-defense, and concealed carry.
32. United States Concealed Carry Association—claiming more than 680,000 active members, USCCA offers myriad online training resources on firearm handling, self-defense, and concealed carry, a listing of partner range facilities, self-defense liability insurance, and a host of other benefits, including access to USCCA’s attorney network to aid them in the event of a self-defense shooting.
33. Women on Target—A program of the NRA, Women on Target was developed to encourage women interested in exploring firearms and their uses to take the plunge. Clinics are available for first-time shooters across the country in half- or full-day sessions.

Have a club or organization that promotes the safe, responsible, and recreational use of firearms by Americans legally able to own them? Tell us about it and we’ll add to our growing list of shooting and training resources available to Biofire Smart Gun® owners. Doesn’t have to be a national organization. We welcome learning about any club or group that you’ve found welcoming, encouraging, and supportive in your recreational target shooting and self-defense journey, even those local only to you, so that we can help others make the same worthwhile discovery.