July 31, 2026

Lake Erie Arms Generates Excitement for National Shooting Sports Month

By Jade Moldae

National Shooting Sports Month^® runs throughout the month of August, and hundreds of ranges, retailers and shooting clubs across the U.S. are ready to welcome in guests as they celebrate the joy of the shooting sports.

To commemorate America’s 250th anniversary and 10 years of National Shooting Sports Month, this year’s celebration carries the tagline “Let Freedom Plink” — recognizing the traditions of marksmanship, responsibility and freedom that have brought generations of Americans together through the shooting sports.

Lake Erie Arms, located in Milan, Ohio, is one of the many ranges taking part in National Shooting Sports Month. Its expansive 94,000-square-foot facility offers numerous target shooting and training opportunities — highlighted by its indoor, state-of-the-art TopShot ClayHouse.

An NSSF Five-Star range, Lake Erie Arms has developed a robust calendar of immersive events to celebrate National Shooting Sports Month this August.

“Throughout August, Monday–Thursday each week, we’re going to be hosting either one of our shooting leagues or some shooting event from anywhere between our shotgun range, 100-yard range, 25-yard range or even airsoft range,” said Matt Dotson, Director of Range Programs & Marketing for Lake Erie Arms. “We’re really excited to have our events align with National Shooting Sports Month and will be using the branding, logos, hashtags on our social media posts, email promotions, flyers, on-site TV screens, targets and other promotional materials we’re going to have.”

Membership Boost

Dotson shared Lake Erie Arms is leveraging National Shooting Sports Month to support another initiative, the +ONE^® Movement. Throughout August, every person who signs up for a range event at Lake Erie Arms will receive one entry to a grand prize giveaway that will be awarded at the end of the month. For those who bring a guest, they’ll receive an additional entry. There’s also a membership tie-in.

“We can help promote memberships during this time, too, because a lot of people who come in here to shoot would benefit from a membership, with the steep discounts on all of the shooting events we have,” Dotson said. “In terms of +ONE, if someone refers somebody else to a be a member, they’d get an additional entry in the giveaway, as well.”

Lake Erie Arms is participating in the 2026 #RangeChallenge — which has a patriotic theme to celebrate 250 years of freedom — and using this campaign to increase awareness of its in-house targets.

“In our monthly competitions, we are going to utilize the #RangeChallenge target, and will also be promoting this with the targets we make in our facility,” Dotson said. “For those who don’t want to sign up for a league, they can use one of these targets to play their own games.”

Family & Fun

Lake Erie Arms is taking its involvement with National Shooting Sports Month a step further by hosting its first-ever Range to Patio Party, which will be held Aug. 8–9. This indoor and outdoor event will encourage range guests to bring their families for a day of fun out at the range. It will feature shooting events, airsoft tournaments, food, live music, field games, a bounce house, raffles and patio fun. The landing page and emails promoting this effort prominently feature the National Shooting Sports Month logo and “Let Freedom Plink” tagline.

“The event is wrapped around the idea of friendly competition, getting out on the range and having the whole family together,” Dotson said.

Having a multi-faceted facility to host large-scale events certainly helps bring in community members who may not otherwise visit their local range — which is how these events are designed, according to Co-Founder and COO Jim West.

“It starts with our facility; how diverse it is. It really helps because I might only get someone in to listen to a band on the patio, but I’ll get them out to the range at some point,” said West. “It’s all about desensitizing them, bringing them to ‘Oh, this place isn’t what I thought it was’ and then they inch closer and closer and ultimately we get them there.”

A focus on fun — regardless of the month — represents a perfect opportunity to welcome in new customers or re-engage with lapsed participants. Throughout the year, Lake Erie Arms hosts events that have nothing to do with firearms, which draw people in from the community. As West details above, these serve a broader purpose of driving awareness of the range in the community, while increasing participation in the shooting sports.

Get Involved!

While ranges, retailers and shooting clubs play a central role in making National Shooting Sports Month a success, it’s an occasion for the entire industry to come together in celebrating the shooting sports. Participating businesses can sign up to appear on the national host map, access campaign resources and receive a free promotional package while supplies last.

NSSF also encourages firearm manufacturers, shooting sports organizations and other industry partners to promote National Shooting Sports Month, share campaign materials and encourage their audiences to participate throughout August. Promotional resources are available through the National Shooting Sports Month toolkit.

For information about participating businesses, the #RangeChallenge, campaign resources and ways to celebrate, visit ShootingSportsMonth.org.