I got a chance to talk with Lynne Finch, founder of National Take Your Daughter To The Range Day about plans for the big day and how YOU can get involved. Check it out:

Natalie: I absolutely love what you are doing, Lynne. I think it is so important and good for little girls and families. Tell me how this idea came about.

Lynne: As an instructor, so many of the women that I meet that are coming in to take classes are there for self protection. Those are the stories that I hear and some of them are pretty uncomfortable. And then I read Julie Golob’s book, Shoot!. In the beginning of the book she talks about going with her dad to some of the competitions and sweeping up brass and doing whatever she could to be involved and to be close. She talks about how that helped evolve her interest in shooting. So I did a post on my blog asking “How did you come to shooting?”  I got so many wonderful responses from so many women all over the country saying saying, “I grew up going shooting with my dad” or, “I grew up hunting with my dad.”  And I thought, What a wonderful experience!  We need to encourage this. I started thinking about it and talking with my instructor, who is also my shooting boss, Evan Carson. We decided that this would be a great way to introduce girls to safety education as well as give them an opportunity to have some family bonding time. But we really thought focusing on the girls was important because the little boys grow up getting to go the range or learn to shoot in scouts and the girls don’t. We just want the focus on the girls.

Natalie: I love this – I think you are striking a very important chord here and it parallels my own experience very much. I got in to it to spend time with my dad and to me, shooting is not about self protection so much, though of course that is a benefit. For me, shooting is about relationships.

Lynne: That is something we are trying to promote. The bonding – the opportunity to participate in something either Father/Daughter or something as a family that you can do together. I personally find shooting to be one of the most relaxing things I can do. If I have had a really stressful day at the office, I like to go to the range and just make holes in paper. And if I can make a really big hole in the middle of the paper, that is a really good day [laughs]. I find it very relaxing to just go shoot and go have fun. But at the same time what I discovered when I became an instructor was that I really really love sharing this skill and teaching other people, especially women, about how much fun it is and that it is not something to be afraid of.  And watching them go from being tentative and nervous to realizing that this is something they can do its a lot of fun. Translating that in to a family event and something that focuses on younger girls- teaching them early, letting them have the opportunity to build that skill and the self esteem that comes with that – just seemed like such a great idea. It’s funny – I put it out on facebook and in less than two weeks we had hundreds of likes and had been contacted by 15 or 16 ranges that wanted to participate as well as a variety of sponsors.

Natalie: So how do ranges get involved?

Lynne: There are a couple of options. There is a contact link on the website that will send an email straight to me. I have also gotten posts through the facebook site and we begin the conversation that way. Our website has a map so you can click on a state and it will take you to a sub page where you can look up the cities with all the participating ranges.

Natalie: This is really exciting! I think this is such an important thing to be doing.

Lynne: Thank you, we are really hoping this turns in to an annual event!

We could not be happier for you, Lynne! Keep up the good work!

We will be out on Sat, June 9th supporting National Take Your Daughter To The Range Day. Be sure and send us pictures from your time at the range, too!

Be sure and check out all the cool ranges and give-aways at your nearest participating range. Follow Lynne and company on Twitter @NTYDTTRD and Facebook.