FAIRFAX, Va. -- After a successful debut in 2006, the National Rifle Association will hold its 45th National Police Shooting Championships (NPSC) at Shooting Range Park in Albuquerque, N.M., October 1 -- 4, 2007, with a practice day scheduled for September 30.
More than 400 law enforcement officers from federal, state, municipal and private agencies, as well as five foreign countries, are expected to compete in this year's tournament, which will include two new team matches and a new tactical event.
"NRA is very happy to bring NPSC back to Albuquerque after the tremendous reception we received last year," said NRA President and retired Police Captain John Sigler. "New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez and Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz should be commended for their fine efforts in hosting this championship, and for recognizing the value of well-trained police officers. There is no better test of a police officer's skills than NPSC."
New to this year's tournament will be a pair of team matches, the Two-Officer and Four-Officer Stock Semi-Auto Matches. A police tactical event is also in the works, which will be fired on an action and reaction-type course using multiple firearms and multiple targets. This event will be held in addition to the overall championship.
The value of NPSC rests in the fact that it tests police shooting skills. Competitors start with guns holstered and fire timed matches with both revolvers and semi-automatic pistols from varying distances and positions to simulate real-life law enforcement scenarios. The aggregate scores from the revolver and semi-automatic pistol matches are used to crown a national champion. The defending NPSC champion is Philip Hemphill of the Mississippi Highway Patrol; he has four consecutive NPSC titles to his credit, and eight overall in the event.
NPSC enjoys tremendous sponsor support, allowing NRA to offer match and category winners one of the finest prize tables in all of law enforcement competitive shooting. Major NPSC sponsors include: Brownells, Davidson's, Beretta, Blackhawk, Colt, FNH, Glock, Heckler&Koch, Otis, Remington, Ruger, Sigarms, and Smith & Wesson.
Held since 1962, NPSC is just one of many programs directed by NRA's Law Enforcement Activities Division. These programs are supported by the Davidson's Law Enforcement Endowment and the Law Enforcement Training Endowment of The NRA Foundation, which includes a generous $251,000 donation from Brownells, Inc., as well as more than 100 other firearm and equipment manufacturers and businesses.
For more information about NPSC, or to register for the competition, go to http://www.nrahq.org/law/competitions/npsc/npsc.asp, call (703) 267-1629, or send an email to [email protected].
