As I'm fumbling my way through this year's edition of the Bianchi Cup, I'm noticing something that augurs well for the future of shooting sports. No, it's not new equipment, it's new faces. Bianchi may have lost a step or two, but it's still bringing in new faces. Wednesday evening, I spent a couple of minutes talking to one of them. He was a longtime competitive shooter, but had never shot "a Cup type" match. "I thought it would be super slow feeling," he said, "I shoot IDPA, USPSA, and 3-gun matches. The idea of shooting six shots in 6, 7, even 8 seconds sounded really slow." So his impression after having shot The Mover and The Falling Plates? "Holy cow," he replied, "it wasn't slow. The draw stroke and the basics might be the same, but there's a world of difference from just trying to get 'hits' on targets. I've shot plate racks for years, but the idea of the rack timing me while we kept moving further and further back got them pretty small- really fast." Other new shooters are fresh-faced juniors still blessed with eagle eyes and cat-like reflexes. The fresh-faced juniors I've watched like Tiffany Piper, Lewis Surgi and Colton Cerino are all grown-up today, but I've seen some really good, really young shooters. A good sign for shooting sports in the long run-even if it emphasizes the fact I carry the "Senior" classification. For "seniors" the good news represented by our new juniors brings some bittersweet. Two of the foreign gentlemen I've come to consider friends have made their annual trip to Bianchi a part of their lives for many years. This week, each of them quietly informed me this would be their last Bianchi. "I'm going to concentrate more on my family," one told me, "I have grandchildren who may want to learn to shoot- later- but they want their grandfather around to teach them to fish now. And I want to do that, even though I'll really miss my friends here." As a proud new grandparent, I "get" that. But as a competitor who realizes that aging eyes and aching muscles won't ever be able to produce the scores I aspire to shoot, I'm not ready to give up shooting sports, although I'm leaning toward promoting them more than participating.

Bianchi Cup volunteers put down special adapters that widen the shooter's box on The Barricades. The minor adjustment allows wheelchair competitors to actually get to the edge of The Barricades. OWDN photo.

And I'm encouraged by the fact that while shooting sports were once pretty inflexible when it came to any sort of changes -especially the minor accommodations necessary to include people who wanted to shoot but faced physical challenges -that's no longer the case. Shooting really is opening itself up to everyone. My aged friends have contributed to the survival of shooting sports around the world. These younger shooters represent the new faces of the sport. But it's not an oil-and-water mix. Sure, our lame jokes get big eye rolls from the youngsters, but when we're together, old or young, pierced and tattooed or bald and bespectacled, we're just shooters. And there's no shortage of conversations about topics that would cause some nervous throat-clearing in other settings. But we're all together because of a common love: competition shooting. That commonality is the lubricant that gets us through our many differences - we need to get as many people as possible "lubricated" by recreational shooting.

If you're doing what you love, weather only slows down the process. Pro shooters Maggie Reese and Michael Voigt waited out the weather alongside the rest of us - and kept us smiling, too. OWDN photo.

Today, most of you are prepping for what most Americans consider to be the "official opening of summer". Many of us forget the holiday was created to recognize the absolute sacrifices others have made to give us long, free weekends. The observations of Bianchi competitors from other countries keep the significance of this coming holiday fresh in my mind. "We saw that motorcycle group called 'Rollling Thunder' pass on their way to Washington wile we were coming to Columbia," one told me, "It's good that you Americans haven't all forgotten." "In my country," he said, "we forgot. And we lost a lot of things, including many of our rights. If you Americans forget, we all lose. If you want to tell your readers one thing- I hope you'll tell them that a lot of the rest of the world is still counting on them." He's right. Have a great, safe weekend with friends and family. But don't forget why this is a national holiday. We'll be keeping an eye on things over the weekend, so we'll keep you posted. --Jim Shepherd