On my way to the NRA Annual Meeting (www.nraam.org) which is for NRA members and held once a year.  There's supposed to be 80,000 NRA members attending at the Georgia World Congress center in Atlanta April 28-30th.  There's an exhibit hall with 800 vendors, celebrity appearances, legal discussions, training and programs, and lots of events on hunting, self defense, grassroots efforts, and more.

This is my first time attending this event and I'll post stuff up as I go.

So far the trip isn't off to a good start.  I've been staying in San Francisco for a few days and left for Atlanta today. My flight was supposed to have left at 5pm, but due to delays at the airport, got pushed back to 10pm, then 12:15am. So hopefully I'll arrive there tomorrow morning and just head straight to the conference.  I'm only attending for 2 days out of the 3 day event as I'm going to New Hampshire to attend Sig Sauer Academy next week.

Very boring...so bored.   eeehh uuhhhh.

Finally made it here after a long night.  At the Georgia world congress center.  Waiting for the Trump to arrive.

When you have lunch with Trump tell him to withhold all federal funds from Hawaii until they grant permitless carry and get rid of all the other idiotic/unconstitutional rights infringing laws (10 round mag limit for handguns, ban on "assault pistols", ban on electronic weapons, registration, waiting period, etc. etc. etc.). Thanks! 

When you have lunch with Trump tell him to withhold all federal funds from Hawaii until they grant permitless carry and get rid of all the other idiotic/unconstitutional rights infringing laws (10 round mag limit for handguns, ban on "assault pistols", ban on electronic weapons, registration, waiting period, etc. etc. etc.). Thanks! 

I doubt our powerful congress man and women will allow that to happen. Besides Hawaii will crawl to the 9th if anything happens...and it worked!

thanks for representing Hawaii over there and let people who matter know how crappy our laws are.

thanks for representing Hawaii over there and let people who matter know how crappy our laws are.

Ditto.

   Was watching on FOX News, didn't see you in the crowd.       

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but the video of Trumps speech is up:



Enjoy the rest of the annual meeting zippz.

When you have lunch with Trump tell him to withhold all federal funds from Hawaii until they grant permitless carry and get rid of all the other idiotic/unconstitutional rights infringing laws (10 round mag limit for handguns, ban on "assault pistols", ban on electronic weapons, registration, waiting period, etc. etc. etc.). Thanks! 

We need the Hudson bill HR38 to pass.
I've got a plan and then Hawaii Democrats
can go F$%^ themselves.  I will be legally
armed then.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but the video of Trumps speech is up:

Enjoy the rest of the annual meeting zippz.

President Trump rallied a convention of the National Rifle Association by vowing to "never, ever infringe" on Second Amendment rights and declaring his predecessor's alleged "assault" on those freedoms is over.

“I am here to deliver you good news: the eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end,” Trump told the cheering crowd.


Thank god Trump is president and Gorsuch is in.  Cringe to think what it would have been like if Hidabeast was our pres.

President Trump rallied a convention of the National Rifle Association by vowing to "never, ever infringe" on Second Amendment rights and declaring his predecessor's alleged "assault" on those freedoms is over.

“I am here to deliver you good news: the eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end,” Trump told the cheering crowd.


Thank god Trump is president and Gorsuch is in.  Cringe to think what it would have been like if Hidabeast was our pres.

Personally, I think we may be better off waiting for an SJ to "roll over" retire and get another  justice in before we "jump the gun" issue.

When you have lunch with Trump tell him to withhold all federal funds from Hawaii until they grant permitless carry and get rid of all the other idiotic/unconstitutional rights infringing laws (10 round mag limit for handguns, ban on "assault pistols", ban on electronic weapons, registration, waiting period, etc. etc. etc.). Thanks! 

LOL, California will probably win their lawsuit to prevent blocking of Federal funds.

Ditto.

   Was watching on FOX News, didn't see you in the crowd.       

I was way in the back in the cheap seats.  It was a packed house.

I arrived at the show yesterday morning after a 8 hour flight delay and went straight to the conference.  Unfortunately I arrived at the end of one of the important events for me, the NRA Grassroots workshop which talked about how to help with 2a activities. 

NRAILA Grassroots
Besides voting and submitting legislative testimony, they discussed how to volunteer by signing up on the NRA Frontlines Grassroots page (http://www.nrailafrontlines.com/volunteer and https://www.nraila.org/grassroots/).  You can help with phone calls to fellow members, going door to door, hosting events, etc.

NRAILA Leadership Forum
Then I went to the NRAILA Leadership Forum where Pres. Trump would appear.  CCW guns and knives were not allowed in the auditorium for this event (it was allowed for the rest of the convention).  We had to go through metal detectors and get checked.  Once inside, it was a packed house with 5,000-6,000 attendees.  It was like a motivational pep rally led by NRA ILA Chris Cox with influential 2a speakers.  Adam Laroche was a former pro-baseball player who quit baseball to spend more time with his family and brings his son hunting.  Jason Falconer was the off duty police officer who took down the knife welding mall attacker.  Sheriff David Clarke in charge of Milwaukee County was one of the few law enforcement chiefs that is strongly pro-2a along with Nevada Attorney General Adam Lexalt.  There were other politcians such as Ted Cruz (Tx Congessman), Rick Scott (FL Gov), and others.  The common message was the 2016 presidential election was the turning point in the 2a movement and the appointments of Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Interior Sec Ryan Zinke were a monumental achievement for 2a.  There's also 100 something district and appellate judges that Trump has to appoint which will fix the damage Obama did to the court system.  I think Trump is working to emplace a solid 2a foundation in the Federal government and that the laws like HPA and CCW reciprocity will follow.

Couple other references.  Venezuelan citizens were disarmed when Chavez took over and this is why the 2nd Amendment is so important in America.  Another thing is there was a military CCW holder that was arrested in NJ because his out of state CCW permit wasn't valid there.  He was found guilty and sentenced for 3 years in prison but Gov Christie commuted the sentance.  Emphasizes the need for national CCW reciprocity.

Trump came on stage and was thankful for NRA's support which gave him the votes to win.   He is the first President to speak at the NRA annual meeting since Ronald Regan.  You can tell that Trump is sincerely grateful to the NRA members as he took time out of his busy schedule to show up.  iThe NRA gave Trump the earliest endorsement in NRA history of a presidential candidate.  He talked about his pro 2a appointments, executive orders, and future legislation for gun owners.  I think he is a very good speaker and it sounds better in person than watching it over the internet.  This was the first time I saw the President in person.

Air Rifle Range

This was neat, and indoor air rifle plinking range.  All different kinds of steel and plastic targets, even a model train that moved with targets on top.  It was very popular with the kids and adults.  I was thinking about opening a store with something like this.

Since there is so much to see and so little time, I tend to focus on training and programs.  Sorry, I skip over all of the firearms and optics displays unless there is something really revolutionary or unusual.

There was a book autograph session by Mark Zeist, one of the security personnel involved in the movie and book "13 hours" based on the incident in Benghazi.  He's an avid 2a supporter.  My father loves the movie so I got him the autographed book as a birthday present.

The Appleseed Project had a booth there.  The AP provides rifle training and shooting events nationwide and is based on Marine Corps marksmanship training.  The Puuloa club and I have been trying to get the AP program here since there is a lack of rifle training for civilians as well as military recreational shooters.  I learned that the AP flew people into the big island and held a rifle course a couple years ago.  They may consider running another course on Oahu and looking into ways to get a local program running.

There's a new SIRT laser training pistol out.  It's based on a compact single stack handgun, like a Glock 43.

Next is the training simulators made by Laser Shot and TI Training.  They produce projector based simulators which I'd like to build into a business.  They run from $3,000 at the low end with a few programs loaded, to the top of the line 3 panel setup which costs $75,000.  These are great trainers for CCW and defensive scenario practice that everyone should have along with fun games and shooting drills.  There are some training drills and teaching tips that you can do on a simulator that can't be done on a live fire range.

And lastly, I got some Eddie Eagle youth safety training videos, coloring books, and the contact info for London808's push to get training done in schools.  It's important to get parents and youths comfortable with firearms as children will be the ones to continue the 2nd amendment legacy.

I didn't have time to see any celebrities or see President Trump.  One of Donald Trump's son's was walking through the exhibit hall with his secret service entourage.  He's supposedly a hunter and gun guy.  Kristen Joy Weiss was walking around too and Lee Ermey was signing autographs.  I got autographs from Team Glock minus Tori Nonaka who recently left the team.  The shooting sports women had a question and answer session going on in the middle of the hall.

NRA was advertising their CCW/Self Defense Insurance heavily throughout the conference and they had a display at the beginning of the expo.  Similar to USCCA and other insurance providers.  NRA will hold CCW related training courses for insurance holders in the future.

And something cool, hidden firearm storage in furniture.  Expensive stuff.

I visited Decot Hy-Wyd who can make premium prescription shooting glasses.  These are great for competition shooters, especially highpower rifle and bullseye pistol.  Glasses were pricey at about $300 for a set, and $200 for additional lenses.

NRA TRAINERS UPDATE
I attended the Trainers Update for instructors and training counselors.  NRA is working on an "Adaptive Training" program for students with disabilities ranging from wheelchair requirements, arthritis/weak grips, deafness, and other special needs areas.  Jay Logar is the head of the program (adaptiveshooting@nrahq.org or phone ext 1491) and is a therapy specialist.  He will release updated course materials for CCW for wheelchair users, hand weakness, wheelchairs in trap shooting, and disability etiquette in 2017 and will eventually update all NRA courses.  He is looking for pictures and videos of techniques from instructors on methods to accommodate the disabled.  You can also contact him if you need help accommodating a disabled student in your class.

They brought up recommendations for instructor improvement by observing other instructors teaching classes, continuing education and refresher courses through the NRA and other courses, instructors should offer the simulator training and gun safety seminar which are posted in the instructors portal.  Instructors should ensure their personal contact info is updated in the NRA training portal at www.nrainstructors.org. 

The other half of the session was about the Basic Pistol Course updates which I talked about previously.  Changes and recommendations include:
- The written test must be passed with a minimum 90% score and can be taken up to 5 times in a day.
- The shooting skills checklist must be completed by the instructor and student.
- Must pass the shooting qualification "Red" target - 4" circle at 10 feet.
- Shooting qualifications targets have been altered slightly, they are outlines instead of filled in circles so beginning shooters can see their sights easier.
- NRA doesn't care if you make your own targets with a compass and pen or other methods, as long as they are the correct size for the distance.
- Basic Pistol student packets only include the textbook and written test.
- Student completion certificates have to be printed by the instructor at the www.nrainstructors.org portal and signed.
- Instructors have a choice of teaching the class in revolver only, semiauto handgun only, or both.
- Having students try the benchrest shooting position is a required part of the class, and can be taught with simunitions (UTM) or laser simulators instead of live fire.

There are also new requirements for basic pistol instructor candidates.  They are required to take the instructor led basic pistol course along with Phase 1 of the blended learning (online) course prior to taking their Basic Pistol Instructor course.  This was previously not required as Training Counselors were given the discretion to accept students based on their experience.

They had a demo for the UTM (simunition) cartridges and we got to try them.  They are low powered rounds which shoot a plastic pellet for use in handguns and rifles which are non-toxic and can be fired indoors.  You can use these with paper targets with a backstop.  They used a very thick tarp material in their shooting booth.  Instructors can purchase adapter kits for handguns and ar15 rifles for $179 and the ammunition costs around 50 cents a round.  http://utm-nra.com/

Thanks for the posts. I'm curious if any one sells the UTM rounds locally. Shipping to Hawaii via UPS for a box is almost $50.

Thanks for the posts. I'm curious if any one sells the UTM rounds locally. Shipping to Hawaii via UPS for a box is almost $50.

Would have to create a large group order for them or I thought about bringing it back on one of my mainland trips.  11lbs is a lot of UTM ammo since it uses a plastic bullet.