The National Rifle Association is constantly under fire (no pun intended) because it refuses to support gun control. After all, when a gun grabber demands something, the only reasonable reaction in their minds is total capitulation with those demands. The NRA is so rude not to do precisely that.

In reality, the NRA does what it can to protect shooting and shooting sports, and that means making a stand against anti-gunners.

It also means helping college clubs attend shooting events.

Just a little help from your friends can go a long way. Recently, the NRA Foundation awarded the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana Iron Horse Shooting Sports Club $3,000 in grants to help fund the team’s registration fees for the upcoming Arkansas State Championship Shoot. The competition will take place in the spring and is meant to support the Pulling for Education Trap Shoot. “The UAHT Foundation is grateful for the support of our local NRA Chapter,” said Anna Powell, executive director of the foundation. “Without this local support, many of our students would not have the opportunity to participate in shooting sports. This grant also helps provide many students with the ability to continue their education because it supports the college’s Pulling for Education Trap Shoot which provides student scholarships.”

Of course, the NRA provides a ton of grants for a ton of different groups and for a ton of different reasons. Yes, I know, that’s a lot of tons. Whatever.

What I do see is that the NRA may spend a lot on fighting the good fight on Capitol Hill, but it isn’t so focused on it that it forgets all of the other good it can do with the money we pay for membership dues.

Grants like this do a lot of good since they ultimately help promote shooting sports. Shooters are far less likely to support gun control, which means these grants help create new opponents to gun confiscation schemes that we know are the endgame for the gun control zealots in Congress and state legislatures throughout the nation.

Plus, it’s a good thing to do. School shooting clubs typically get little to no support from their schools, often because of the simple fact that they’re shooting clubs. They refuse to fund them like they would any other organization, which is funny because every other political club gets that kind of money.

It’s only too bad that they aren’t considered a sports team. I mean, they’re representing their school in a competition. It stands to reason they should be, especially if they compete against other schools.

Of course, that happening is a pipe dream at best. I’m pretty sure clubs like Iron Horse Shooting Sports Club are barely even tolerated at their schools, and if they are, they’re fortunate. They’re the exception.

Luckily, if their schools won’t offer support, it seems the National Rifle Association will. A $3,000 grant may not be much when we look at the kind of money flying around in news stories on a regular basis, but for the folks of the Iron Horse Shooting Sports Club, I’m sure it made a world of difference.