John M. Browning Day

In recognition of his lasting contributions to the development of firearm design and the military defense of the United States, the Utah State Legislature officially designated January 24, 2011 as John M. Browning Day. A native of Ogden, Utah, John M. Browning is widely considered the world’s greatest firearms designer, and many of his gun designs remain popular around the globe to this day. The official commemoration took place on January 24th at the Utah State Capitol Rotunda in Salt Lake City.

Activities throughout the day included a display of many rare, historic and unique Browning firearms and modern military aircraft. Utah Governor Gary Herbert made a formal presentation of the resolution to Christopher Browning, the great grandson of John M. Browning, at the noon ceremony on the capitol steps followed by a fly-by of F16 fighters from Hill Air Force Base in Ogden. Still on the agenda for the Utah State Legislature’s 2011 session is a resolution by Rep.

Carl Wimmer (R-Salt Lake) designating the Browning-designed 1911 pistol as the Official Utah State Firearm. 2011 represents the 100th anniversary of the adoption of Browning’s 1911 .45 caliber automatic pistol by the US Army. After a full century of service this pistol design remains in active military use with US special operations forces and is more popular than ever among civilians, gun collectors, competitive shooters and law enforcement officers. Amen! Free Money For Shooting Ranges!

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has awarded grants totaling $231,796 to nine shooting facilities through its Range Partnership Grant Program.

New marketing strategies designed to motivate individuals, particularly youth and inactive shooters, to participate in organized shooting events dominated this year’s winning proposals. "With target shooting participation at a record high, this is the perfect time to encourage millions of active shooters to share their passion for our sports with a youngster or adult newcomer," said Steve Sanetti, president of NSSF, trade association for the firearms industry. "Shooting ranges serve as learning and training centers for our sports and these grants help ranges remind people in their communities that they can get a supervised, safe introduction to shooting close to home." Said Melissa Schilling, NSSF’s manager of recruitment and retention, "We’ve seen how successful these grants can be in fueling growth at shooting ranges around the country.

More people are interested in shooting than ever before, and the proposals NSSF has funded remind them to give shooting a try." Through independently conducted research and polling, the NSSF has found the 40 million Americans would attend an organized shooting event if invited and 40 percent of those who attend an event return for more.