It's a common topic of discussion at any gun club meeting or any other gathering of shooters: the dwindling number of shooters and hunters getting involved in the shooting sports. Someone will point out the prevalence of gray hair on the firing line and decry the lack of young people getting involved in the shooting sports.

Hands-on practice helps develop confidence and begin building safe habits. The use of a dummy gun allows safe demonstrations of common mistakes. Stance, sight picture and technique can be practiced more safely before the added stress of real guns and ammo is added in.

To a degree this is a misperception. There are many thousands of young people being introduced to the fun and challenging world of shooting every year through programs of 4-H Shooting Sports, the National Shooting Sports Foundation's Scholastic Clay Target and Scholastic Rifle Programs, Boy Scouts, Junior ROTC, various NRA programs and many other organized youth shooting activities.

Simply knowing about these programs and being able to tell interested kids or their parents where to find out about them can go a long way toward bringing new youngsters into the sports. See the accompanying list of the larger programs and their websites, but be sure to ask about youth programs at your local gun club or range--and if they don't have any, consider starting something yourself.

Even with the great work these organizations are doing, there is no doubt that there has been a steady decline in gun ownership over the past several decades. It turns out that the vast majority of the kids getting involved in the available programs are rural kids from shooting families, youngsters who were likely to receive other exposure to shooting.

The fact is, without some family connection, taking the first steps in getting involved in shooting can be very intimidating. Many of the same shooters who are decrying the lack of new blood in our sports go out of their way to make new shooters feel unwelcome and inadequate. They complain about newer shooters not knowing or following various rules or traditions, but they don't step up to help educate these newcomers in a friendly, non-threatening manner.

Shooters and hunters at least expose their friends and family to their sport. That exposure doesn't always leave a good impression, though, and even if it does, not everyone exposed to the shooting sports will be attracted to them. If today's shooters want to guarantee the future health of the shooting sports, it's not enough to just teach our own kids and grandkids we must also reach out to those whose only exposure to guns comes from movies, television and video games.

Youngsters are not the only ones interested in getting started shooting. Most of the readers of this magazine know someone--a coworker, relative or friend--who is interested in learning more about guns. This might be a young man whose family was anti-gun, a middle-aged guy who's lived most of his life in places where gun ownership is particularly difficult or a woman who is feeling vulnerable and is considering getting a gun for protection. The starting point is the same: a friendly invitation.

New and prospective shooters are usually keenly aware of the fact that there are special rules and expectations for anyone participating in shooting sports, and when a person knows that they don't know something, it is hard for them to be very confident about barging in. Having a friendly, low-stress introduction to firearms and basic firearms safety can make a huge difference in a person's attitude toward shooting and shooters.