NRA grants help small gun clubs

COTTONWOOD — A northcentral Idaho gun club was among the first gun clubs in the state this year to get a grant from the NRA for improvements.

The Cottonwood Gun Club received a grant of $17,000.

Josh Castor, chairman of Camas Prairie Friends of NRA, said the grant funding goes first to women’s and children’s shooting sports, then to “state-level things” and thirdly to range improvements.

Nonprofit groups interested in supporting shooting are also eligible, Castor said.

“It can be for kids shooting sports, upgrades to your facility,” he said.

The money comes from banquets such as the one held last month in Greencreek, which was backed by more than 60 local private corporate and individual donors and underwriters, Castor said.

Friends of NRA is a nationwide program of the National Rifle Association Foundation. The Camas chapter puts on a big fundraising banquet every year and the money raised supports a variety of related programs.

The Camas grant, Castor said, will be used to prevent flooding on the range.

“For them, their … stall floods now …,” Castor said. “So they put in a grant request for truckloads of dirt and stuff, and basically that whole group out there is going to donate their time. Some people are going to bring in heavy equipment. And the grant is to supply rock and footing to build that up.”

Next year, the same group can reapply for another grant to continue the work, or add another project, he said.

Castor said his organization wants shooters around the state to be aware of the grants.

“We want to get the voice out that there’s other gun clubs, Boy Scouts, archery ranges — and not just guns only, there’s a lot of things that these grants can go towards,” he said.