Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 11th and set aside a few hours to visit your local gun range, because the first ever #ResponsibleGunOwnersDay will be taking place at ranges across the country.

Ryan Petty, who’s been a frequent guest on Cam & Co and a friend of mine for several years, joined me on the Erick Erickson show on Friday afternoon to make the announcement, telling me that he went to the National Shooting Sports Foundation with the idea of having a day to celebrate and recognize the tens of millions of responsible gun owners, as well as encouraging new gun owners to spend some time on the range to get comfortable and competent with their firearms.

I'm calling for responsible gun owners across America to join me on June 11th for Responsible Gun Owners Day at the Range. I'm partnering with the wonderful folks at the @NSSF to make this a reality.

Join me!

Learn more https://t.co/medYYqjbSf

— Ryan Petty (@rpetty) June 3, 2022

Petty delved a little deeper into his decision to try to get this event up and running on his website. Petty says he wants to send a very different message than the anti-gun activists who’ll be using June 11th to call for more gun control laws and restrictions on responsible gun owners.

With anti-gun activists and politcians once again calling for gun control measures that will only punish responsible gun owners for the evil acts of criminals, activists have called for June 11th, 2022 to be a day of marches and protests against our Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. I say enough!  It’s time for responsible gun owners to stand up and take action.  We can’t sit idly by and allow these voices to dominate the national conversation.

So, I am calling all responsible gun owners to a national day at your local gun range on June 11th 2022. After enduring two years of lockdowns, like me, you might be getting a little rusty.  I know that many of our local gun ranges endured financial hardships during the pandemic, and some didn’t make it.  That’s why we need to get out, knock off a bit of that rust and support our local gun range.

As a gun owner, a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) and concealed carry permit holder, I know the importance of protecting our Second Amendment rights.  Being a gun owner demands responsibility; becoming and maintaining proficiency with firearms is part of that responsibility.  Your neighborhood gun range is the best resource for training and education on firearms proficiency, safety, handling and storage.  When was the last time you’ve been to the range?

So please, join me and let’s make June 11th a day that our local gun ranges won’t forget and get the training we need to continue to be #ResponsibleGunOwners.

My first thought after Ryan made the announcement this afternoon was that I really wanted to join him on the 11th, but as it turns out a 1,200 mile round trip with gas at nearly $5.00 a gallon makes that a little unfeasible. So, while he’s at his local range in Florida, I’ll most likely head over to SafeSide Tactical in Lynchburg, Virginia or Colonial Shooting Academy in Richmond. One of the great things about living in my part of rural Virginia is that I can shoot on my own property, but one of the downsides is that I don’t have an actual range within an hour of my house. Still, this is such a good idea that I don’t mind driving 60 miles or so to take part, and I’m hoping to get some friends to join me next Saturday as well.

If you want more information on participating ranges, you can check out WhereToShoot.org for a list of participating ranges. And if you don’t see your local range on the list, reach out to them and encourage them to become a part of Responsible Gun Owners Day as well.