There are a lot of fuzzy front sights running around these days.  You would think that manufacturers would do a better job of cleaning the burrs off their products before putting them on a gun.  Why else would I see a ghost sight, or three front sights, or a fuzzy sight or . . .  Well, you get the picture.  Unfortunately, there is nothing wrong with the sights and ramping up quality control inspections is not going to solve my problem.

As a shooting buddy recently told me, there is something you need but can never have -- young eyes!  I've been wearing contact lenses (+2.25) for years.  These days, I also use reading cheaters if I'm reading anything in volume, or if the print is small  I'm sure my definition of "smallprint" differs from kids with young eyes!

To give me a crisp front sight, I use the stick-on bifocals (+1.00) you can get from Hidalgo Supply and other places on the Internet. Prices range from as low as $10 per pair to about $30. I cut them to fit on the right lense of my shooting glasses (my dominant eye) so that I am only looking through it when I am shooting with my head "ducked" slightly. This allows me to see a crisp front sight with my dominant eye, but the effect on the target (additional fuzziness) is minimal because the left eye is not looking through the additional magnification.

I actually learned about using only one stick-on bifocal by accident. I bought some new sunglasses and wanted to try them out before the new stick-on bifocals arrived. I took the bifocal off of the left lense of a pair of shooting glasses and tried it on the new glasses. I was amazed how much better it worked. The best thing about this approach is that you can put the stick-ons on any glasses and you only have the extra magnification on the dominant eye, which prevents the target from being significantly more blurred.

Since I am farsighted and use a (+) prescription, but I have had near-sighted people (using a "-" prescription) tell me this method works for them as well.

The featured shooting Club for this month is the PSC Shooting Club, Inc. (“PSC”) located in Friendswood, Texas.  PSC is a 100% NRA Club that was founded in 1966 and has grown to over 3000 members.  It is managed by an 11 member Board Of Directors all of whom are collected annually by a PSC members.

One of the hallmarks of PSC is the friendly family atmosphere enjoyed by its members.  PSC members are quick to point out that  “we’re not merely a shooting range, we are a Club.”  The PSC Board of Directors has developed a long range strategic plan to continually improve the Club’s facilities and bring additional shooting opportunities to its members.
PSC Shooting Club is also a very good a “civic” neighbor as it is evidenced by its support of local Boy Scout Troops, Friendwood schools, and the Friendwood Police Department.  PSC also hosts and/or supports various special events for the local community.

PSC’s physical plant consist of several ranges for rifle and pistol shooting, as well as shotgun fields.  The Club operates a position rifle range with berms from 50 yards to 300 yards.  A 200 yard benchrest – only ranges available, as well as a 25yard to 100 yard 22 rimfire range.

Pistol ranges or available in various formats and additional improvements are currently underway.  Multiple pistol bays as well as plate rack bays are available for pistol shooting of all calibers up two but not including 44 magnum.

PSC’s shotgunners have access to trap and skeet fields, as well as country doubles, and five-stand fields.  When the shotgun fields are not manned, Members can use their own throwers.  A patterning board is also available, as in a home-defense shotgun range in the pistol area.

The different types of shooting match is posted at PSC are almost too numerous to mention.  They consist of IDPA,  IPSC, PPC,  Steel Challenge, pistol pin, pistol plate, and metallic silhouette matches.  In addition to pistol matches, PSC host monthly metallic silhouette matches for rifles, as well as NRA rifle matches.

The Club is very proud of its active and growing Juniors Program and its Women’s Program.  Each of these programs are held monthly and each has a different format.  The juniors rotate through all of the shooting disciplines available at PSC, so each month the program is different.

The Women’s Program is structured differently.  Each month basic training is available in what has become referred to as “handgun 101.” But the Women’s Program is not limited to basic training as additional, more advanced, shooting opportunities are offered such as IDPA scenarios, defensive shotgun, and more.

Firearm safety and education programs are also staples at PSC.  Each month, various classes, clinics, seminars, and courses are offered to PSC members and their guests.  (Some events are open to nonmembers.)  For example, virtually every NRA rifle, pistol, shotgun, and self-defense class is available at PSC on a rotating basis.  Free seminars are offered throughout the year on various subjects of interest to gun owners and more are being developed.  Monthly classes are held to obtain or renew a Texas Concealed Handgun License.  So regardless of one’s shooting experience and education, PSC offers an educational program to fit everyone’s needs.

In spite of all the matches and training opportunities available at PSC, informal shooting with family members and friends is still the mainstay at the Club.  That’s why members proudly refer to PSC as a club rather than a shooting range.  Part of the long-term plans include the construction of facilities to host family events and gatherings to increase the social interaction between members.  Great facilities and a family friendly atmosphere is why a PSC has been described as one of the finest shooting clubs in Texas.

Promote your club, range or match:

TexasShooting.com is not only the best online magazine available to the Texas shooting community, it is the “go to” resource for people looking for any and all information about shooting activities in Texas. Whether they want to get the news, read articles about shooting events, watch fun and educational videos, locate training classes, or simply find a match to shoot, they are coming to TexasShooting.com. Promoting safe, fun and responsible firearms ownership and usage should be a goal of every Texas gun owner. Let’s face it, the gun owner who actually uses his or her firearm is far more likely to be an active defender of Second Amendment rights, than a gun owner who never takes their firearm out of the closet are gun safe. In order to actually use a firearm, gun owners need access to shooting clubs and ranges, and many choose to hone their skills by a participating in shooting matches.

Shooting clubs, ranges and matches can promote their events and services to the shooting community by subscribing to TexasShooting.com. Regardless of the size of your shooting organization or match, there is a subscription package to fit your needs.

Subscription Basic:

With the basic subscription, your range, club or match is listed on the TexasShooting.com website both alphabetically and by location. Your listing can include any and all contact information you choose, including the link to your web page. To help promote your events, you can also submit up to two articles per month that will appear on the front page of the TexasShooting.com website.

Subscription Plus:

The Subscription Plus package entitles you to all of the features of the Basic subscription, plus many others that help you promote your events and services to the Texas shooting community. In addition to the standard listing, you can have a page dedicated solely to your organization. This page can contain articles, advertisements, and any other material that meets the TexasShooting.com standards of publication. Your separate page can also contain any of the other features available on the front page such as a special calendar for your events alone, photographs, videos, schedules and more. You can even have a Twitter link that automatically displays your most recent tweets. To increase your exposure on the front page of TexasShooting.com, you can also publish up to four articles that will appear on the front page of TexasShooting.com. (You can publish an unlimited number of articles on the separate page for your organization.)

Subscription Deluxe:

The subscription deluxe package is best suited for organizations that would like to have automated online event registration capability, either with or without prepayment of event fees. With the Deluxe package, you get all the features of the Basic and Plus subscription packages, plus access to the TexasShooting.com registration feature. This feature allows you to list your classes, matches, social gatherings, or any other events for which you require pre-registration. You can also require online prepayment from those registering, or you can offer prepayment as an option two paying-at-the-door. Obviously, you can allow everyone to pay-at-the-door and you can schedule free events that require no payment.

The registration feature at TexasShooting.com allows you to set event attendance limits, schedule your events for automatic opening and closing of registration, set the event pricing based upon factors such as membership and non-membership in your organization, and many other features. The TexasShooting.com registration feature also allows you to export registration data either as an Excel file or as a CSV file that can be imported into other programs and form documents such as name tags, score sheets and releases.

Every time someone registers for one of your events, an administrative email is sent to any person or group of people you set up to receive those emails. This Admin email can contain as much or as little information as you wish, including any or all of the data you collect from people at the time of their registration. People registering for your events also receive an automatic confirmation email with any message you want to send. At your option, it can also include the information they provided when registering, along with any attachments you may wish them to receive. For example, you can attach a document that contains a map, event instructions, evaluation forms, score sheets, or anything else you choose to send.

The registration feature is also easy to use and is totally within your control. You will be given secure logon information that will allow you to access your events so you can create, delete or modify everything without having to contact anyone at TexasShooting.com. A series of tutorial videos will be made available to subscribers, and you can always contact us if you need personalized assistance.

The TexasShooting.com online registration feature makes event management a breeze. Once you have tried it, you will wonder how you ever did without it!

Limited Time Bonus for Deluxe Subscribers:

For a limited time, Deluxe subscribers will also be able to post a banner that will appear on the front page of TexasShooting.com, on a rotating basis.  This free front page banner spaces or limited to the first ten Deluxe subscribers, so register soon.

If your range or club hosts any kind of event such as matches, training classes, social events, etc., then you need to take advantage of the Texas Shooting.com Event Registration Service, or ERS for short.  Take it from someone who has used everything from a legal pad and pencil to complex Excel spreadsheets,  ERS is a must for match and event planning and registration.
Reduce administrative workload for your matches, classes and events. When we started offering IDPA matches at PSC Shooting Club approximately 16 years ago, match registration was literally done with a pencil and paper.  As the match grew, I started using an Excel spreadsheet, but this still required manually entering the name, classification, division and other information for each individual shooter.  To say this was time consuming would be a gross understatement.  From 2001 to 2006, PSC hosted the Texas State IDPA Championship and we were still using an Excel spreadsheet for match registration.  It almost got to the point where I was dreading the rapid growth of both the state championship as well as our monthly matches.
Fast forward to 2013 and we are using an online registration system at PSC for most of our larger events such as monthly IDPA matches, the monthly PSC Women’s Program, 3 – gun matches, seminars, and most training classes.  This system that has been limited to the PSC Shooting Club website and PSC activities is now available at TexasShooting.com.  Whether you are the range owner, club officer, match director, instructor, or overworked volunteer, ERS will make your life much easier.

Those of us who plan events and handle registration know just how much goes into preparing for an event.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a monthly match, a state championship, or social event, there’s more to logistics than most people realize.  We must deal with capacity of our facility, staffing, match/event supplies, parking, water and sometimes even food.  Planning these details means we need to know how many folks are coming as well as their names and other information to be used for name badges, score sheets, releases, parental permission slips, and other documents.  While this can still be done with pencil and paper or an Excel spreadsheet, we can still ride a horse to work but most of us choose to drive a car rather than a buggy.Online registration with or without pre-payment; automatic confirmation email; automatic admin. email to match director or event coordinator and more!

With the TexasShooting.com Event Registration Service, people attending your match for event will register online providing as much or as little information as you choose.  If your hosting a match or event that requires the fee, you decide whether your participants can pay at the door or prepay online using Paypal as a gateway letting people pay with a credit card, or their own PayPal account.  When people register for your event, they will receive an automated email confirming their registration along with any information and attachments you want to provide.  At the same time, an administrative email will be automatically sent to your event organizer.  The information contained in the Admin email can be as much or as little of the information provided by the person at the time of registration.  It will also indicate the amount paid by the registrant, if any.

The information captured at the time of registration can be exported to a CSV file that you can use in other software programs.  For example, it can be used to automatically create name badges, registration forms, liability releases, parental permission forms, emergency medical authorizations, or any other documents you require.  The exported CSV file is also an excellent way to archive information about your events.

After the initial setup of your account, you control everything.  You create and modify any and all events you wish and you can manage those who have registered for Export match or class data in an Excel spreadsheet, or as a CSV file for use with other software such as match scoring programs.your events.  You can send a generic event reminder email to everyone registered with the click of a single button, or you can send a customized email message.  If you have any trouble, support is only an email or phone call away.  Tutorial videos that walk you through the entire process are also available.

You also have the choice of sending people directly to Texasshooting.com to register for your match or event, or you can post a link on your website that goes directly to your match and event listings.  If you want to have a link on your own website, people registering will see only your events.

So all of you event coordinators put down that pencil or close your Exel spreadsheet and sign up for the Texasshooting. com Event Registration Service today.  You will wonder how you ever got along without it!

The short answer to the question is a resounding “YES!”  We really are that good and this article sets out the proof.  But first, here is  a short history lesson.

Let us turn the clock back about twenty five years when the idea of passing legislation that would allow law-abiding Texans to carry handguns for self-defense was an idea that was still in its infancy.  Supporters of what we now call a Texas Concealed Handgun License, or simply CHL for short, were thought to be few in number and we were dismissed an “just more gun nuts.”  To say these were frustrating times would be an understatement, but supporters pressed on.  The campaign took on a new persona when newly elected State Senator Jerry Patterson (now Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson) filed a CHL bill in the 1993 Texas Legislative Session.

Although I am a practicing attorney, I also spend a lot of time giving seminars on Texas Self-Defense Law and teaching  firearms courses, as well as the Texas Concealed Handgun Course. In almost every class or seminar, I am asked "what gun should I get for self-defense." That's much like asking "what kind of a car should I buy?" I go through the questions most instructors ask, then I explain the advantages and disadvantages of several different revolvers and semi-autos. I strongly recommend that people try to shoot several different handguns before deciding what they want to buy for self-defense.

The best way for me to help accomplish this is to bring a wide variety of guns to the range and let students shoot them all. I've noticed that one of my 1911s in .38 Super is frequently a crowd favorite, especially with the ladies. The more I watched the ladies take to the .38 Super like proverbial "ducks to water," the more I became convinced that a Commander length 1911 in 38 Super may be a perfect defensive handgun for many of the ladies. The 1911 trigger is hands down the best trigger on any handgun, and it makes it easier to shoot accurately, all other factors being equal. It's also slimmer than other semi-autos, making it easier to conceal.