November 24, 2025

HAVA Brings Veterans Together at 16th Annual Family Range Day in San Antonio

By Mark Oliva

Honored American Veterans Afield (HAVA) held its 16^th Annual Family Range Day at San Antonio Police Department’s Citizen Training Academy recently. The event saw more than 150 veterans from the area, along with their families, enjoy some trigger time as a way for the firearm industry and San Antonio Police Department to offer a collective “thank you” to veterans and their families for the service and sacrifice made during war.

Tom Taylor, HAVA’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Marketing Officer at CZ USA, told the veterans and their families that HAVA’s commitment remains the same. As an organization comprised of firearm, ammunition and accessories manufacturers, HAVA recognizes that many who served in war bear the scars, both visible and hidden, from the battlefields upon which they fought. For HAVA, and by extension the firearm industry, the pledge is to “never forget.”

“We never want to forget what the people gathered in this room and what the families went through,” Taylor told the veterans invited to the HAVA Family Range Day. “We never, never want to forget what you did for this country,” adding, “That’s our pledge is to never forget. So, we thank you for what you did for us. It’s why we do this.”

HAVA’s Family Range Day, hosted by the San Antonio Police Department, included opportunities for veterans to step up to the firing line and refamiliarize themselves with rifles, handguns and even single-action “cowboy” shooting skills. The event was supported by NSSF, HAVA volunteers, the Bandera Gun Club, of Bandera, Texas, The Single Action Shooting Society, A Girl & a Gun, GLOCK, SIG SAUER, CZ USA, HI VIZ Shooting Systems, Veterans Equine Therapy Solutions (VETS) for archery skills, Marines from Company, C, 4^th Reconnaissance Battalion, U.S. Army National Guard soldiers from San Antonio and the San Antonio Police Department.

Veterans took the opportunity to shoot .22-caliber rifles and handguns, single-action revolvers, semiautomatic handguns from GLOCK and SIG SAUER, Smith & Wesson and CZ. Veterans were also treated to learning archery with recurve bows and firing bolt-action rifles.

HAVA’s Family Range Day in San Antonio is the organization’s flagship event for veteran outreach. HAVA has hosted similar range day events previously in Texas, North Carolina, Washington and Kentucky, as well as more intensive small group events, including outings in Alabama, Connecticut, as well as hunts for selected veterans.

HAVA was recognized by the Department of Defense in 2018 when it was awarded the Spirit of Hope Award, named for Bob Hope, who spent over two years of his life in combat zones entertaining the troops in wars ranging from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Shield. The award is given to individuals and groups that epitomize the values Bob Hope embodied, including duty, honor, courage, loyalty, commitment, integrity and selfless dedication. Many of HAVA’s volunteers, who come from within the firearm industry, are veterans.

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