Meet Your Neighbor: Gary Anderson CMP offers public firearms training, competitions

Sheri Trusty
·4 min read
Fourteen-year-old Landon Miller of Fremont shoots prone during open public shoots at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center on Tuesday. Anyone, even those with no shooting experience, are welcome to try airgun shooting at the center.
Fourteen-year-old Landon Miller of Fremont shoots prone during open public shoots at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center on Tuesday. Anyone, even those with no shooting experience, are welcome to try airgun shooting at the center.

PORT CLINTON - When Philip Edwards asked his wife, Joyce Edwards, to shoot air rifles with him at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center at Camp Perry, she had no desire to join him. She was afraid of guns and had no interest in learning how to shoot one.

“I told him, ‘I want to shoot with you as much as you want to go to Joann Fabrics with me,’” Joyce said.

Philip kept asking, and Joyce kept saying no, until the day about eight years ago when she relented. Although she was afraid she would “shoot my arm off,” she joined him on the range, took her first shot, and was hooked on the sport.

“The people here relaxed me,” she said.

Gary Anderson Center is open to public Tuesdays and Thursdays

That year, Joyce came in second in the Air Rifle National Matches, losing by just three points to a 22-year-old Army MP.

“I almost had the chance to say I beat an Army MP. All he could say was he beat a grandma with arthritis and bad eyesight,” she joked.

Today, Philip and Joyce are regulars at the Gary Anderson Center when the range is open to the public every Tuesday and Thursday. Philip, who has been shooting air rifle for about 12 years, is a three-time national champion.

The Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center staff offers experienced training in a fun and comfortable atmosphere during open public airgun shooting on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Shown here are, left to right, CMP Communications Manager Christine Elder, Program Coordinator Ryan Hinson, Program Coordinator Alana Kelly, Competition Support Jackie Slosnerick and North Competition Center Coordinator Catherine Green.

“But our greatest reward is helping the veterans and handicapped children who come here to shoot,” Philip said.

CMP, the Civilian Marksmanship Program, is a national organization designed to train and educate the public in the safe use of firearms and airguns through marksmanship training and competitions. The public, regardless of shooting experience, is invited to the range.

“You can be brand-new and know nothing about marksmanship,” said CMP Communications Manager Christine Elder.

Cost to shoot at the range is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and kids ages 8 through high school. Pellets can be purchased at the range, and precision air rifles and air pistols can be rented for $5, but the use of a sporter air rifle is included in the entry fee. Also included is free assistance by trained instructors.

The CMP shooting range has 80 lanes

“We’ll sit and instruct you through a couple of shots and make sure you know the equipment,” said Catherine Green, North Competition Center Coordinator. “We’re like the training wheels, and then we come off.”

The CMP boasts 80 shooting lanes.

“We like to compare it to bowling, except instead of shoes, we give you a rifle,” Green said.

Joyce Edwards was afraid of guns before her first visit to the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center. Now she shoots with her husband, Philip Edwards, every week.
Joyce Edwards was afraid of guns before her first visit to the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center. Now she shoots with her husband, Philip Edwards, every week.

Program Coordinators Ryan Hinson and Alana Kelly lead a junior team on Tuesdays and Thursdays that is open to teens at any experience level. The purpose of the junior team is to introduce teens to the sport.

“The goal is to build them up to be ready for competition,” Hinson said.

While the junior team practices on the range, they are surrounded by shooters of all ages, because airgun marksmanship is for anyone.

“You could be standing next to a 12-year-old or next to a 70-year-old,” said Competition Support Jackie Slosnerick.

Airgun shooting can be modified to fit any age and ability. The CMP range is utilized by paralympic competitors, kids just there to have fun, teens training for the Olympics, adults looking for a safe place to practice marksmanship, and seniors like Joyce, who rests the rifle on a sandbag to help with control.

“I have arthritis, and there are not a lot of sports I can do, but this is perfect,” Joyce said.

The versatility of airgun marksmanship makes it a lifetime sport. Green, Hinson and Kelly were collegiate competitors who remained with the sport after graduation.

Larry Kiraly of Perrysburg practices air pistol at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center on Tuesday.
Larry Kiraly of Perrysburg practices air pistol at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center on Tuesday.

“It’s not an NCAA sport you can go pro in, but at the same time, it doesn’t end after college,” Kelly said. “If you’re not drafted in football, you’re done, but not with this. There are so many events you can choose from.”

The CMP range is open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5 to 8 p.m. and by appointment on Mondays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The public is invited attend the JROTC regional championships on Feb. 9 to 11 and the JROTC National Championships on March 23 to 25. Ottawa County high school seniors are invited to apply for the 120 scholarships that CMP will offer to shooters and non-shooters this year.

For more information, visit www.thecmp.org.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at  sheritrusty4@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Gary Anderson CMP offers public firearms training, competitions