Joe Rich Sportsman's Association to host open house for National Gun Range Day

The first annual National Gun Range Day is happening on June 4 and the Joe Rich Sportsman’s Association will be hosting an open house event, welcoming the public to the sport.

Association president Warren Fradette says the national event is a first of its kind in Canada.

"A lot of ranges are doing it, so we registered for it as well too, and kindly enough we have Rick Antonio from the [Canadian Rimfire Precision Series] National division bringing a lot of stuff over as well to let the general public try out, so it’s going to be a lot of fun."

Event director Dan Shemley says it’s been a long time coming for ranges to band together for the betterment of the sport, and he’s thrilled it's finally happening.

“Now we are seeing ranges and people starting to come together because we realized we’re all a part of this big sport, and if we support each other everybody helps, everybody grows," Shemley said.

The Joe Rich Sportsman’s Association currently has three different ranges, including a 50 metre range for pistols, and two ranges for rifles – one of which is 100 metres, while the other is 300.

“It’s going to be a good point in time to actually see what you can be a part of and to actually physically try something. Maybe you’ve never shot a gun before and you can come up with the experts and be able to actually be safely shown how to handle the firearm and let it go. It could just be the one thing that puts you over the edge to get into the sport.”

Whether you’ve been shooting guns for 20 years or you’ve never had the opportunity, there will be something for everyone at the range on June 4. A Facebook page for the event is here.