Regularly-held, actively-promoted, formally-organized shooting events such as competitive shooting are the best approach (and arguably the only sensible approach) to earning pro-gun publicity and building a positive image of gun owners and gun ownership.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory we need to recognize active and successful firearm users and consistently get that message out. The firearm industry and related organizations have done a horrible job at this for a century.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

The minnesota state high school clay target league championship bills itself as the largest shooting sports event in the world. With the bustling crowds and flood of corporate interest, it could be mistaken for, say, a scene on the NASCAR circuit, except that the stars are teenage boys and girls.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory and they’re armed. That’s the entire point, of course, in a shooting competition, but there are moments when the world beyond scorecards and ear protection edges into view.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory bernie bogenreif, coach for the roseville area high school trap team, detects one such instance as competitors from another school line up for a team photo: a couple of dozen kids arranged, shoulder to shoulder, guns in hand.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

Then again, it might. In much of the country, the words guns and schools do tend to go together more often in horrific headlines than under a senior portrait, wedged between class treasurer and spring track.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory but more and more yearbooks are marking competitive shooting as a part of high school life. Even as mass shootings have inspired protests and walkouts in many schools, a growing number—-sometimes the same schools—are sanctioning shooting squads as an extracurricular activity.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory in 2015, for example, 9,245 students, in 317 schools across three states, participated in the USA high school clay target league. Since then, participation has spiked 137%: in 2018, 21,917 students, from 804 teams in 20 states—-including new york and california, as well as texas—competed.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

The uptick reflects at least two complex and relentlessly challenging realities—guns in america and adolescence. On one level, high school shooting teams weave themselves into the national debate over firearms.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory the NRA has funded these programs. From 2014 to 2016, the latest three years for which the NRA foundation’s tax returns are publicly available, the organization provided more than $4 million in cash and equipment grants to schools and organizations that support scholastic sports shooting.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory the support dovetails with the group’s original emphasis on gun safety and training. But it also aligns with the NRA’s transformation into a political power-house that frames firearm ownership with a defiant cultural conservatism.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory there’s a reason barry thompson, a service engineer for medical equipment who has a lifetime NRA membership, helps coach the east ridge high school team.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory “I’m upfront with the parents,” says thompson, 59. “I am out here with an ulterior motive. These kids will be voting.”

Sable, an avuncular pitchman who founded the USA high school clay target league and just retired as its president, refined his argument.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory he asked administrators to pretend, for a second, that he didn’t represent a shooting sports organization. Imagine instead that he was asking them to start an activity that causes concussions, broken collarbones and fractured legs.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory no way, right? He then reminds them he’s describing football.

The study drew from an invaluable cache of health data gathered at the cooper clinic in dallas, where thousands of men and women have been undergoing annual checkups, which include filling out detailed questionnaires about their exercise habits and medical history.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory more than 12,500 records were anonymized for men and women, most of them middle-aged, who had visited the clinic at least twice between 1987 and 2006.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory the subjects were categorized according to their reported resistance exercise routines, ranging from those who never lifted to those who completed one, two, three or more weekly sessions (or whether they lifted for more or less than an hour each week).Cognitive field interactionist learning theory another category was aerobic exercise and whether subjects met the standard recommendation of 150 minutes per week of brisk workouts. This exercise data was then crosschecked against heart attacks, strokes and deaths during the 11 years or so after each participant’s last clinic visit.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

The findings were dramatic: the risk of experiencing these events was roughly 50 percent lower for those who lifted weights occasionally, compared with those who never did — even when they were not doing the recommended endurance exercise.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory people who lifted twice a week, for about an hour or so in total, had the greatest declines in risk. (interestingly, the subjects who reported weight training four or more times per week did not show any significant health benefits compared with those who never lifted, although the researchers believe this finding is probably a statistical anomaly.)

cognitive field interactionist learning theory

“the good news,” says duck-chul lee, an associate professor of kinesiology at iowa state university and co-author of the study, “is that we found substantial heart benefits associated with a very small amount of resistance exercise.” as an associational study, the results show only that people who occasionally lift weights happen to have healthier hearts — not that resistance training directly reduces heart-related health risks.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory the data, though, does reveal associations between weight lifting and a lower body mass index, lee says, which might be connected to fewer heart problems.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory he and his colleagues do not know the specifics of what exercises people were doing — lat pull-downs? Dead lifts? Squats? — or how many repetitions they did or at what level of resistance.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory lee says he is in the early stages of a major study to examine some of those factors. But he doesn’t suggest waiting for those results.

1) gear blogs are neat, but the old “10 pictures and 5 paragraphs” format that a lot of guys still do is largely being supplanted by videos.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory consumers still read text and image blogs, but video reviews result in a much higher conversion rate to sales. Since that conversion rate is what we manufacturers are looking for, you’re more likely to get product from us if you do video.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory videos are also much more likely to get shared by the manufacturer via their social media program (like facebook, twitter, and e-mail newsletters) because that’s what consumers are most likely to click on.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory hell, if I really wanted people to see this, I should have shot this note as a video rather than typing it!

2) don’t hit me up out of the blue with your hand out for free stuff.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory buy product from companies and do reviews first. A blogger who e-mails me cold and asks for something will likely get nothing, while a guy who sends me links to four other reviews he has already done on products of mine is likely to get a big box of goodies.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory on the other end of that, when you get free gear for reviews, it is a major faux pas to sell that gear online when you’re done with it. If you were given something and no longer need it, the proper course of action is to give it to someone who needs it, or donate it to a charity auction or raffle that supports a worthy gun/gear related cause.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory I’m not sending you free product so you can stock your own personal for-profit tactical gear store. Pay it forward.

4) I’m not necessarily looking for the guy who has a billion subscribers to his youtube channel.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory what I want is someone who makes videos that don’t suck. Keep them SHORT. Almost everyone (including some of my friends who are big-time video bloggers) make videos that are waaaaaaay too long, which means people skim them, at best.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory when someone sends me a link to a 10+ minute “review” video, I won’t even skim it. Never make a video longer than four minutes; 90-180 seconds is optimal.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory if you can’t buffer it on your smart phone and watch it in the time it takes to roll through a mcdonalds drive through, most people won’t bother trying to watch it.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory one of the best examples of a video done right is this one that stephen pineau made about the VG2.

5) make sure you read the product instructions and relay correct product specs and information in your blog.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory it also doesn’t hurt to approach the company whose gear you are reviewing and ask them to check for any technical errors. Bloggers that screw up these little details are far less likely to get product support from manufacturers on future blogs or videos.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

6) cultivate a relationship with companies; don’t just chase after the latest new gadget. The guys who I send samples of our new products before they hit the shelves are the ones who have a proven track record and who stay in touch with us on a regular basis.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory they do follow up blogs on gear from us they have already reviewed. If the only time I hear from you is when I launch a new product, you’re probably not going to get what you’re seeking.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

8) seriously, keep your wife/girlfriend OUT of your videos. If your content is so anemic that you have to put daisy dukes on your girl and have her fumble awkwardly with a pistol on camera, you’re in the wrong line of work.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory it’s a gimmick, like having a a stripper working your trade show booth. Frankly, it distracts people from the product, and it makes you look unprofessional.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory when you look unprofessional, you don’t get product support.

9) be knowledgeable. You don’t have to have a background in military or law enforcement work, but you DO need to know about the product you’re reviewing, as well as comparable and/or competing products.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory the best product reviews are the ones that not only tell the features of the product, but also help the consumer understand how the product works in conjuction with other firearms or gear that they also use.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

10) this industry is a small one, and the companies talk to each other. If you conduct yourself professionally and create quality review content, you’ll find that doors open very easily to you.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory free gear will flow like water. However, if you get a reputation as being a guy who shakes everyone down for free gear and then doesn’t deliver, or you get caught selling things you were sent as demo items, you’ll find yourself black listed pretty quickly.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

Attendance fall off at organized shooting events is the biggest problem facing advancing gun owner skill and improving the perception of gun ownership by the general public.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory ignorant gun owners scoff about not caring what their non-gun owning neighbors think while ignoring the fact that pro-gun initiatives would be much easier if those neighbors had a reason to hold a positive opinion on it.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

Part of that attendance fall off is shooters deciding to take up a different discipline. Camp perry attendance peaked in the early 1960s and that was when rifle shooters could only choose between high power or smallbore and pistol was bullseye (or perhaps PPC if you were a cop.) I know some shooters in traditional disciplines don’t like the new options but I’d rather have gun owners participating in something that appeals to them than not at all.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory

Equipment isn’t the biggest factor concerning score but it is a factor. I’d address this by expanding the classification system and equipment divisions.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory five or six skill groups for all shooters isn’t broad enough. High school sports have more than this and that doesn’t take little league/pop warner/pee wee leagues, junior varsity, and other local leagues into account.Cognitive field interactionist learning theory college, semi-pro, and pro are entirely different groups with their own strata.