Education

Daisy is the Leader in Shooting Education

If you ask a shooter or hunter today how they learned to shoot, you’ll discover that most of them took their first shot with a Daisy BB gun. Because airguns have form and function similar to firearms, it’s not uncommon to use a BB gun as a training gun, use a pellet rifle as a primary practice rifle or use a CO2 pistol in order to be familiar with proper handling of a semi-automatic pistol. Because Daisy is the leading manufacturer of airguns, the company takes seriously its obligation to emphasize shooting safety.

Almost Anyone; Almost Anywhere

Almost anyone can shoot. Shooters don’t necessarily have to be the strongest or largest or fastest athlete in order to excel. The shooting sports simply require concentration, discipline and determination.

And, you can shoot airguns almost anywhere. Be sure to check state and municipal legislation in your area. In most cases, you can safely shoot an airgun in a backyard or even in a basement, with a proper trap and backstop. This convenience often extends the shooting season and offers substantial cost savings compared with firearms range fees and high ammunition cost.

The Daisy Shooting Education Program

Daisy began creating educational partnerships with local schools and other organizations as early as 1948 and in 1956 established a Training Services Department, working with the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation to make target shooting with BB guns a part of schools’ physical education curriculum. In the 1960s, Daisy partnered with the U.S. Junior Chambers (the Jaycees) to establish a nationwide youth shooting education program.

Ten Lesson Curriculum

When it comes to shooting education and training, Daisy literally wrote the book. Daisy’s Ten Lesson Curriculum for Shooting Education not only provides the lessons for an instructor to present to the student, but also provides the instructor with goals, and requirements for classroom space, range personnel and materials.

No doubt, millions of young people have been introduced to shooting safety through Daisy’s ten-lesson classroom curriculum and practical instruction by dedicated volunteers. Over the years, in addition to the Junior Chambers, Daisy has worked closely with 4-H Shooting Sports, American Legion, the National Rifle Association, National Guard Youth Marksmanship Program, USA Shooting, Cadet Leagues of Canada, Royal Rangers, the International Hunter Education Association, churches, camps and civic and conservation organizations to make instructional material and equipment available.

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On the Road to the Daisy Nationals

Most successful recreational education programs involve an element of competition and the shooting sports are no different. Young people will remain involved in a program for a longer period of time if there is an opportunity to compete and to be recognized or rewarded.

The youngest shooting athletes shoot BB guns in four positions (standing, sitting, kneeling and prone) at a five meter distance. Daisy’s Model 499 Champion, a muzzle-loaded BB gun, is recognized as the world’s most accurate BB gun and is the only gun approved for the Daisy Nationals five meter competition.

Older athletes graduate from the 5-meter BB gun program to shoot Sporter classification pellet rifles in three positions (often referred to as 3-P) including prone, standing and kneeling at a ten meter distance. Sporter classification rifles include single pump pneumatic rifles such as Daisy’s Model 853, Model 753, refillable CO2 models such as Daisy’s Model 888 and Model 887 as well as pre-charged (compressed air) rifles. The AVANTI name, an Italian word meaning go ahead or step forward, was chosen by Daisy as a brand for the company’s training and match competition guns.

Each of the groups with whom Daisy cooperates shares the company’s passion for and dedication to teaching young people how to shoot safely. Coaches begin by recruiting interested young people to attend their classes in which the Daisy Ten Lesson Curriculum is taught. Not until that written curriculum has been completed will a coach take the team onto the range to shoot. The most promising shooters will comprise a competitive five meter BB gun team that will practice throughout the season. Teams compete in state matches, typically sanctioned by the National Rifle Association or 4-H Shooting Sports. Only the top three teams in each sanctioned state match qualify to compete in the Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match (The Daisy Nationals).

As a point of clarification, Daisy does not certify state matches or sponsor BB teams. If you’re interested in starting a BB gun team, there are many places to get information and help. Try the National Rifle Association Airgun Program (www.homeairgun.nra.org), the Civilian Marksmanship Program (www.thecmp.org), the American Legion (www.legion.org) , the Junior Olympic Shooting Program (www.usashooting.org) or your local County Extension Agent to get information on your local 4-H Club Shooting Sports Programs. It’s also important to note that to qualify for the Daisy Nationals, state contests are not required to be NRA-sanctioned. NRA-sanctioned matches are required if you’re interested in having your shooting records recorded at the national level.

The first Daisy National match was held in 1966 and has been held at shooting facilities, Olympic facilities and colleges all over the country. Over the years, the match has attracted teams from every state plus the District of Columbia and Canada.

Daisy Outdoor Products announces the release of the new Model 599 10-Meter Competition Air Rifle, a .177 caliber gun that allows competitors to shoot the entire match without having to recharge. Check out these features:

  • Beautiful ambidextrous beechwood stock
  • Vertical and length-of-pull adjustment
  • Adjustable comb
  • Trigger weight adjustable down to 1.5 lbs
  • Rotating trigger adjustment for perfect positioning right or left
  • Removable power configurable cylinder
  • Cold-hammer-forged BSA barrel
  • Straight-pull T-handle
  • Hooded front sight, diopter rear sight
  • Integral 10.8 mm dovetail scope rail
  • Sling rail
  • Pressure gauge and quickfill

For more information or to order, go through this website or call 800-713-2479. Cost is $595.

The Daisy Nationals in Rogers, Arkansas

Today, the Daisy Nationals is hosted at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center in Rogers, Arkansas, Daisy’s hometown. Hosting the match in the company’s hometown allows Daisy to dedicate the resources of the company’s facilities and staff to making the event a memorable one for the coaches, athletes and their families.

At the opening ceremonies, athletes assemble, wearing their team colors and carrying their state flag. Many of the young competitors are accompanied by parents and siblings. 5-meter BB gun teams are comprised of five athletes and two alternates. Several of the coaches who bring a team to this match have been coaching for twenty to thirty years. The match itself takes place over a two day period. A score on the mandatory written safety test, based on the Daisy Ten Lesson Curriculum, is combined with each shooter’s target scores. Often the safety test score will be the determining factor in a close competition.

While competitors and their coaches are focused on the match itself, there is always time to make new friends and have fun. At the Barter Bar, athletes trade with each other items they have brought from their home state.

The Daisy Nationals represents the best of the best young athletes and the tip of the iceberg when it comes to match competition. For every competitor at the national match, there are thousands who participated in this educational shooting sports program.

Taking Shooting Education on the Road

Daisy’s commitment to shooting education and nation-wide programs which touch the lives of hundreds of thousands of young shooters is greater than ever. While the Daisy Nationals and the structured shooting education program reach hundreds of thousands of young people annually, the company recognizes that not everyone who wants to learn how to shoot wants to compete on a team. Some learn from a parent, grandparent or mentor. Others attend conservation and hunting events at which they are introduced to the shooting sports.

In order to reach to even more young and first time shooters locally, Daisy has built a Mobile Airgun Range. Additionally, the company has designed and introduced inflatable BB gun ranges which can be shipped to events. The inflatable ranges are powered by a small fan and inflate in less than one minute. Layers of fabric provide a more than adequate backstop for the low velocity BB guns used on these ranges. Partnering with organizations such as the National Wild Turkey Federation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Daisy has enabled these ranges to be made available across the country at events where these organizations’ chapter youth leaders and volunteers are teaching more and more young people how to safely handle and shoot a Daisy BB gun. Additionally, the company makes the inflatable ranges available to its retail customers for store openings and special promotions. Instructions regarding setting up and operating a Daisy inflatable range are available: Daisy’s Inflatable page. It’s likely you’ll see a Daisy inflatable range at an event in your area in the near future.

Recognized Shooting Education Programs

There are many excellent shooting education programs available today at camps, schools, churches and through hunting and conservation organizations. Some of the most recognizable include:

American Legion Junior Shooting Sports Program
The American Legion
P.O. Box 1055
Indianapolis, IN 46206
317-630-1249
www.legion.org/shooting

Civilian Marksmanship Program
Bldg. 3
P.O. Box 576
Port Clinton, OH 43452
419-635-2141
www.odcmp.org

4-H Club Shooting Sports Programs
Contact your local County Extension Agent

Junior Olympic Shooting Program
USA Shooting
1 Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
719-866-4670
www.usashooting.org

National Wild Turkey Federation
JAKES Program
P.O. Box 530
Edgefield, S.C. 29824-0530
803-637-3106
www.nwrg.org/jakes

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
SAFE Program
5705 Grant Creek Rd.
Missoula, MT 59808
406-523-4500
www.rmef.org

Teaching America to Shoot is Daisy’s Passion

Daisy stands ready, willing, and able to assist any qualifying non-profit organization, church, or civic group with the correct products and curriculum necessary to establish a shooting education program of their own. Daisy offers special market discounts on all the items for shooting education programs. If you’d like help to begin a program, simply call Daisy Special Markets Programs at (479) 636-1200 for assistance, special market discounts, and more information.

Daisy is grateful to the parents, mentors, volunteers and coaches who devote their time, energy and resources to teaching young people shooting safety and marksmanship skills. Only with their assistance has it been possible for the company’s programs and materials to have touched so many lives.

From the company’s first involvement in structured education programs in 1948, through the development of a written curriculum, to the present-day sponsorship of the prestigious annual Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match, shooting education has remained an integral part of Daisy’s corporate culture. Being the leader in shooting education has been, and remains, Daisy’s obligation, honor and passion.

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