The Oregon State Shooting Association (OSSA) is partnering with the Oregon Firearms Safety Coalition (OFSC) and Oregon Association of Shooting Ranges (OASR) to bring key safety resources to our members and communities. ​
Oregon Clubs, 

Below are key resources to launch our drive for Firearms Safety and Wellness in the Oregon..    Here is an ouline of what is included below:
  • Overview Presentation
  • Quick review of the goals. 
  • Process to join our effort - get on the list!!
  • Initial suggested actions for all member clubs
  • Initial resources assembled to support Safety and Wellness

This is an initial stab at organizing our efforts,  this material will change, update, improve.   Revisit this site often to see updates.    Please offer any suggestions you have with the suggestion form below.

Kerry Spurgin, President 
Oregon State Shooting Association
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The Oregon State Shooting Association (OSSA) is committed to promoting and practicing SAFETY and WELLNESS in the shooting sports and communities of Oregon.    SAFETY and WELLNESS starts with basic firearms safety handling procedures and safety while enjoying shooting sports, but it also includes safety in secure storage with an emphasis on safety within our families and community, especially with our children and those with crises or mental challenges affecting their lives. ​

Overview Presentation
The Oregon State Shooting Association (OSSA) is partnering with the Oregon Firearms Safety Coalition (OFSC) and Oregon Association of Shooting Ranges (OASR) to enable our firearms community to lead in making Oregon safer.  Please offer any input or comments with the suggestion form below 

Safety-Wellness Goals
Our goals, for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, are to educate and enable firearms owners, and their communities, with key resources, to improve safe storage, keep our children safe, and bring awareness and tools to help those with mental wellness.
  • GOAL 1:  Develop and deploy “Firearms Safety and Wellness Info/Brochure kiosks" in 80 % of OSSA Clubs.
  • GOAL 2:  Establish ongoing child safety/education classes, in 80% of OSSA Clubs, and train 2X each club's current member count (community outreach)
  • GOAL 3:  Establish and deploy New Member Orientation suicide prevention training tools (presentation, video, …) in 80% of OSSA clubs.
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Step 1:  Get Your Club Involved!!  -   Join the drive for Safety-Wellness

​Using the link to the right you can join the group of clubs that are driving and shaping Safety-Wellness in Oregon.   By signing up you wil be on the inside of the effort and be able to connect with others to share ideas and resources. 

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Next Steps - Initial actions for clubs to launch Safety-Wellness
  • Identify central location and setup  “Safety-Wellness Information Kiosk” with posters and brochures.  
  • Incorporate “OSSA/OASR/OFSC Safety and Wellness” message and video clips in New Member Orientation and Member meetings.
  • Schedule QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training for your board, city council members, Chambers of Comerse, and local veterans associations. 
  • Plan and sponsor Child safety “popcorn and movie night” to introduce child safety to members, their children, and the community 

See the resources below to help with the steps above.

Resources:

Safety-Wellness Information Kiosk
Link for OSSA/OASR/OFSC Information Kiosk Posters
​Ordering NSSF/AFSP Suicide Prevention brochures  (They are Free, pay only shipping)

New Member and Existing Member Materials
Club New Member Video from OSSA/OASR/OFSC
  • OSSA/OASR/OFSC  Suicide Prevention Video    -  The Oregon State Shooting Association, through partnership with OFSC and OASR, has created a great video to help educate and enable people to take action to prevent firearms suicide.   
                     Here is your link..     OSSA-OFSC-OASR Suicide Prevention

NSSF Materials:
NSSF/AFSP Videos
A good reference site for clubs -  NSSF Suicide prevention reference page 

QPR Training  (Question, Pursuade, Refer)
QPR Training is the standard intro course for engaging and addressing suicide risk.  Think of QPR just as you would CPR for heart attacks.  If someone were having a heart attack - would you know what to do??  Same goes for suicide risk  and QPR.

OSSA and OFSC are spearheading the connection of our gunclubs with the community.   With this our gunclubs become leaders in the community.    We have connected key county health organinzations and local clubs to provide this training.   

See the article on how Douglas Ridge Rifle Club is leading the way with its partnership with Clackamas County.  Washington, Yamhill, and Deschutes counties are not far behind.

It does not stop there!!   Subsequent classes at our clubs, provided by county resources, at no cost are to include local Chamber of Comerse groups, City Councils, and local Veterans groups.   

Just imagine every time someone talks about sucide prevention it comes out that the firearms community is leading the way.

Just imagine when someone looks for training on the county calender, the community learns more about the firearms community as they are refered to the gun club for training.

​When its time to engage the QPR training contact Kerry Spurgin and Donna-Marie Drucker
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Child Safety Strategies and Materials

The approach to Child safety will be touched on in all three of our goals:

"Child Safety Part I"
  • A standalone topic in the "Safety-Wellness Information Kiosk"   
  • see the posters and the associated website (www.ossa.org/safety-wellness) for creating awareness and key references 

"Child Safety Part II"
  • A special focus as it is connected to suicide prevention. 
  • Within the New Member Orientation section, the video regarding preventing unintended access covers the topic quite well.   Our children are subjected to stresses as never before and, as responsible firearms owners, we need to:
  1. Watch and monitor our children, have the brave conversations when needed
  2. Practice safe storage, as applicible for our situation, to protect our children and any vistors to our homes. 
  3. The key actions here would be to review the key references on secure storage and the NSSF video on unintented access.

Child Safety Part III
  • This is where we need our clubs to step up and lead within their membership and in their community.  The goal is: 
  • GOAL 2:  Establish ongoing child safety/education classes, in 80% of OSSA Clubs, and train 2X each club's current member count (community outreach)
  • This means teaching our children, and children within the community, with age-appropriate materials, that if they find firearms in their activity at home or with friends to not touch and seek an adult to make the firearm safe from curious children.     We need to do this with our own children, but we have an opportunity to help the community by making this training open to all. 

Let us talk about strategies within our clubs and reply with the suggestion buttons below. 

As a start, initiate a family night at the club.   
  1. Invite the whole family, children too!  Include a BBQ, potluck, and even a fun shoot that fits the age capabilities of the children.   Make it FUN!
  2. At some point in the event, organize the children to age appropriate groups
  3. Provide a TV screen, snacks, and drinks to have the groups view the apropriate resources below...
  4. Review the OSSA Safety-Wellness page with the parents
 
Child Safety 'popcorn night' resources
  1. Contact Derek LeBlanc at KidsSafeFoundation (https://kidssafefoundation.org/contact-us/) to help setup a program for your club
  2. Utilize NSSFs Program:   NSSF materials are more suitable for older youth 4-9th grades.
  1. Explore NRA's Eddie Eagle Program  (https://eddieeagle.nra.org/program-resources/program-materials/)
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