The Ben Avery Shooting Facility is a public outdoor shooting range located in northern Phoenix, Arizona. At 1650 acres (668 hectares) it is the largest public operated shooting facility in the United States. [1] It is operated by the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) and is identified as one of the Phoenix Points of Pride. [2] The facility is named for Ben Avery, a local outdoors activist.
The Ben Avery Shooting Facility began as an effort on the parts of Ben Avery, Glenn C. Taylor and Jim Beaman, prominent outdoors activists in Arizona in the 1950s, to provide a public shooting facility in the interest of safety. In a letter to the Maricopa County government, Avery summed up the trio's concerns that the desert around the city had become a "battleground" with recreational shooters and it was a concern for public safety. [3] Upon selection of the current site, Avery helped finance the initial construction with a $5,000 personal loan and $3,000 in local contributions. Construction began in late 1959, and the facility was completed and operations transferred to Maricopa County in 1960.
In 1961, Mr. Avery appointed the Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association, (State Arm of the NRA since 1909) to help run the financial aspects of the range. This partnership ended in 2009 although the ASRPA still is active in supporting the range, competition, and the State Game and Fish Department in its efforts to grow competition, firearm safety, and hunter education.
Originally named the Black Canyon Shooting Range, the facility underwent further expansions with the cooperation of the AZGFD. With the assistance of the National Rifle Association the facility was selected as the 1970 host of the ISSF World Shooting Championships, bringing worldwide recognition to the region as well as the facility. Preparations for the competition required further development and expansion of the facilities, which saw additional involvement and support from the AZGFD. Phoenix became only the second US city to host the international competition, and was the third and thus far last time it has been hosted in the US.
In 1992 the facility was renamed to the Ben Avery Range. In 1995, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors decided that it would not renew its obligation to operate the facility. AZGFD took over operation of the range and in 1996 it was given its current name, the Ben Avery Shooting Facility.
From its beginnings as primarily a rifle range, the range has expanded to include a number of facilities catering to various outdoors activities. These facilities include:
The range also hosts a number of gun safety education courses run by the NRA, ASRPA, and hunter safety education courses run by the AZGFD. A number of other specialty courses as well as competitive events are held at the range during the year. [4]
The Clay Target Center is a specialty facility located within the overall Ben Avery complex, catering to clay target shooting. Originally constructed as a part of the Black Canyon Shooting Range in 1964, the facilities were leased by a private company in 1996 and heavily remodeled. [5] In 2006 operations of the facility were turned over to the AZGFD and underwent another round of renovations, expected to be completed by spring 2007. [6]
The center hosts the all traditional clay target shooting games, including skeet and trap shooting as well as newer games including sporting clays. A number of competitions are held in the facility, and special youth shooter programs are available.
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms and bows/crossbows.
Arizona State Prison Complex – Phoenix is one of 13 prison facilities operated by the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC). ASPC-Phoenix is located in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes a minimum security unit near Globe, the Arizona Correctional Facility for Woman (ACW), and ASPC-Aspen.
In the United States (U.S.), a marksmanship badge is a U.S. military badge or a civilian badge which is awarded to personnel upon successful completion of a weapons qualification course or high achievement in an official marksmanship competition. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps are the only military services that award marksmanship qualification badges. However, marksmanship medals and/or marksmanship ribbons are awarded by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Air Force for weapons qualifications. For non-military personnel, different U.S. law enforcement organizations and the National Rifle Association (NRA) award marksmanship qualification badges to those involved in law enforcement. Additionally, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and the NRA award marksmanship qualification badges to U.S. civilians. Most of these organizations and the U.S. National Guard award marksmanship competition badges to the people they support who succeed in official competitions.
Camp Perry is a National Guard training facility located on the shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio near Port Clinton. In addition to its regular mission as a military training base, Camp Perry also boasts the second largest outdoor rifle range in the world after the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico. The firing is done in the direction of the open water of the lake, that lies just beyond an earthen berm and the targets.
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue, or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military or law enforcement agencies, though the majority of ranges are privately owned by civilians and sporting clubs and cater mostly to recreational shooters. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, known as a Range Officer (RO), or sometimes a range master in the United States. Supervisory personnel are responsible for ensuring that all safety rules and relevant laws are followed at all times.
Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing game animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. Metallic silhouette is shot with large bore rifles fired freehand without support out to 500 meters, and with large bore handguns from the prone position with only body support out to 200 meters. Competitions are also held with airguns and black-powder firearms. A related genre is shot with bow and arrow, the metal targets being replaced with cardboard or foam. The targets used are rams, turkeys, pigs, and chickens, which are cut to different scales and set at certain distances from the shooter depending on the specific discipline.
Encanto Park is a 222 acres (90 ha) public park in central Phoenix, Arizona consisting of picnic areas, a lagoon for fishing, a boat house, swimming pool, nature trail, miniature amusement park, and two golf courses. The lagoon is approximately 7.5 acres (0.030 km2) in and approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) deep. The park is bounded by Thomas Road on the north, Encanto Boulevard on the south, 15th Avenue on the west and 7th Avenue on the east; its surface elevation is 1,100 ft (340 m). With miniature amusement park within a park Enchanted Island, offers rides, games, concessions, and a miniature railroad which circumnavigates the area.. Encanto Park has been designated as a Phoenix Point of Pride.
KBAQ is a public radio station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, playing classical music. It is co-owned by the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) and Arizona State University (ASU). The studios are located at MCCCD's Rio Salado College in Tempe, alongside MCCCD-owned KJZZ, while the station broadcasts from a transmitter on South Mountain. In addition to its FM signal, it is broadcast as an audio subchannel (8.5) of ASU-owned KAET television across central, northern, and southwestern Arizona.
The National Small-bore Rifle Association (NSRA) is the national governing body for all small-bore rifle and pistol target shooting in the United Kingdom, including airgun and match crossbow shooting.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is a state agency of Arizona, headquartered in Phoenix. The agency is tasked with conserving, enhancing, and restoring Arizona's diverse wildlife resources and habitats through protection and management programs.
The Scottsdale Gun Club (SGC) is an indoor shooting range located in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick is a stadium complex located in the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community near Scottsdale, Arizona, at the former site of the Indian Bend Country Club. It serves as the Major League Baseball spring-training facility for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies, replacing Tucson Electric Park for the Diamondbacks and Hi Corbett Field for the Rockies. The complex represents the first MLB park to be built on Native American Indian land.
Billy Gene Hicks was an American moving target shooter who distinguished himself in competitions around the world and the United States from 1955 to 1981. He was considered to be one of the foremost moving target shooters in the world.
Cowboy action shooting is a competitive shooting sport that originated in the early 1980s, at the Coto de Caza Shooting Range in Orange County, California. Cowboy action shooting is now practiced in many places with several sanctioning organizations including the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), Western Action Shootists Association (WASA), and National Congress of Old West Shooters (NCOWS), and Single Action Shooting Australia (SASA).
Shooting targets are objects in various forms and shapes that are used for pistol, rifle, shotgun and other shooting sports, as well as in darts, target archery, crossbow shooting and other non-firearm related sports. The center is often called the bullseye. Targets can for instance be made of paper, "self healing" rubber or steel. There are also electronic targets that electronically can provide the shooter with precise feedback of the shot placement.
Sgt. Sherri Jo Gallagher is an American soldier who holds 22 United States national rifle records. In 2010, she was named the U.S. Army Soldier of the Year.
The National Shooting Centre is the UK's largest shooting sports complex, comprising several shooting ranges as well as the large Bisley Camp complex of accommodation, clubhouses and support services. The centre is located near the village of Bisley in Surrey, from which it takes its colloquial name "Bisley ranges". The site is wholly owned by the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NSC is the trading name of the facility.
Bullseye shooting is a category of shooting sport disciplines where the objective is to score points with carefully placed precision fire by hitting a target as close to its center as possible. The name refers to the target center's nickname, the "bull's eye". In Scandinavia, this type of shooting competition is referred to as Range-Shooting, as it usually takes place at dedicated shooting range.
The NRA Whittington Center is one of the largest and most comprehensive shooting facilities in the United States. Owned and operated by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), the centre is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colfax County, New Mexico. Ten percent of the 33,300-acre (13,500 ha) site has been developed to include twenty-three shooting ranges, an administration building, a cafeteria, a museum, a library, classrooms, and full-service hookups for 175 recreational vehicles. The remainder of the site provides wildlife habitat at elevations above 6,300 feet (1,900 m) with primitive camp-grounds and remote back-country cabins for hunting, bird watching, wildlife viewing, photography, hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding.
Valleywise Health is a network of taxpayer-funded hospitals and medical facilities in Maricopa County, Arizona.
