August 1st 2023Sherri Jo Galagher, who is the second woman to ever win the NRA High Power National Championship in history, wears Eye Protection at Camp Perry. Nancy Tompkins was the first woman to win the NRA High Power National Championship. One of our Canadian readers responded to a Bulletin story about Protective Eyewear by sharing a personal experience. His story shows the importance of wearing eye-protection when shooting, no matter what kind of firearms you use — even air rifles. We hope that all of our readers will take this advice to heart. Eye and Hearing Protection is now mandatory for Highpower Rifle and Pistol Shooters in all CMP affiliated matches. The 2020 CMP Highpower Rifle and Pistol Rulebooks, as well as the CMP Games Rulebooks, all include this rule: “All competition officials and competitors are required to wear appropriate hearing and eye protection while on firing range firing lines when highpower rifles or pistols are being fired. Before they can compete in a CMP sanctioned or sponsored competition, all competitors must comply with the requirement. The competitors are responsible for choosing their own eyewear and hearing protective equipment. “Eye Protection — Lesson Learned
Nicholas from Canada
Red Ryder BB guns were my first shooting sticks as a boy growing up on a mixed-farm in the plains. My father bought it for me because I showed a keen passion for shooting and hunting. I was around 9 years old when this happened. We had literally thousands in our large farmyard and they liked roosting on the steel railings of the barn loft. As these winged pests settled into the farm buildings, I began to thin out their numbers by flashlight at night. As I was slaying sparrow after sparrow, with about a dozen cats following me in the barn loft to eat these easy meals I shot at another bird that was centered in my beam. My aim was low, and the copper pellet struck the steel beam right on the spot. I felt a sharp, immediate pain when the BB bounced off and struck me between my eyes on the bridge to my nose. The partial penetration of the skin caused blood to flow. I would have lost an eye if the BB had been a half inch off! The hard lesson I learned was to never, ever, ever shoot at any target that has a steel background, even with a BB Gun. Wear the best shooting sunglasses money can buy. PLEASE REMEMBER THIS! Editor’s Comment: Safety eyewear is used by all competitive pistol shooters. You’ll never find Rob Leatham or Julie Golob competing without eye protection. The governing bodies of handgun sports enforce eye protection policies. We wish the same was true for competitive rifleshooting. We see benchrest, F-Class, and High Power competitors often shooting without eye protection. We’ve heard them all, but none of them outweigh the safety concerns involved. We recommend that all hunters and shooters wear eye protection when they are using firearms or at a location with live fire. You only have two. One or both eyes can be permanently blinded by a tiny bullet fragment. As rifle shooters we place our eye a few inches away from a combustion room operating at pressures of up to 70,000 psi. I know a lot of guys who wear safety glasses religiously when operating a lathe or drill press. But they won’t wear eye protection when firing their rifles, simply because it’s “inconvenient”. That’s nuts. No matter if you are a Cub Scout or a National Champion, you should always wear eye protection. I will give you an example. A year ago, I was shooting a pistol in 9mm. One of the cartridges blew out the primer, which blew small particles, brass, and a bit of the pistol’s extractionor into my eyes. Thankfully, I was wearing wrap-around safety sunglasses. There were no injuries. This could have been much worse without the safety glasses. I always wear safety lenses with ALL firearms. Be wise and protect your eyes. Read our article on Eye Protection for Shooters to learn more about eyewear standards and the latest options for ANSI Z87 certified protective eyewear.
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