Marksmanship Creates Equity

How shooting sports have historically had true equity in sports for all participants.

In 2023, the National Rifle Association crowned three women as the Overall Champion in three different marksmanship events.

From left: NRA Smallbore 3-Position Champion Kristin Yeaton, High Power Rifle Champion Amanda Elsenboss, and High Power Mid-Range Champion Kimberly Rowe

Kristin Yeaton won the Smallbore Rifle 3-Position Championship. Not only did Yeaton capture the overall 3-Position title during the Smallbore Nationals, but she also topped the Metric 3-Position Grand Aggregate leaderboard as well as the National Smallbore Conventional 3-Position grand aggregate.

Amanda Elsenboss won the NRA National High Power Rifle Championship shooting the highest score over Match Rifle and Service Rifle competitors. Classified as a High Master, Elsenboss was competing in the Service Rifle category, making her the National Service Rifle Champion as well.

Kimberly Rowe won the High Power Mid-Range Championship. Additionally, she was a member of the winning Mid-Range Prone Match team USNRT-Rowe with teammates Oliver Milanovic, Larry Sollars, and Joseph Bakies, along with Team Captain and Coach Charles Rowe.

All three won their respective Overall Championships against all competitors, including the male shooters.

That feel when when the NRA is more progressive in practice than progressives.

This is not new. The U.S. national record for High Power Match Rifle (Mumma Trophy) was set by Sherri Gallagher in 2010 (2,396-161X out of 2,400 possible) and still stands.

Sherri’s mom, Nancy, won that overall match back in 1998.

For most of the history of the modern Olympiad (until more recent and unfortunate changes), women competed as equals in shooting and Margaret Thompson Murdock was the first woman to win a medal in the Olympics in a shooting event. She was later inducted into the USA Shooting Hall of Fame.

Murdock attended Kansas State University and competed in her school's rifle team. By her sophomore year, she had secured a spot on the team and graduated from KSU having been the first female student to letter in a sport at the university and then with the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) at Fort Benning (Moore).

At the 1976 Olympics, Murdock tied with her teammate Lanny Bassham, who had won the Silver at the 1972 Olympics. Only by decision did Bassham win the Gold with Murdock taking the Silver. Bassham had her stand on the podium with him during the award ceremony to acknowledge she had tied for Gold.

Gertrude Backstrom won numerous women's national pistol records, holding 17 of 30 recognized National Women’s Pistol records or being the multiple-High Woman champion in Precision Pistol shooting.

In 1957 Backstrom was the overall High Civilian champion beating out all male and female competitors at that year's national matches shooting .45, .38, and .22 caliber pistols.

1957 Precision Pistol champion Gertrude Backstrom

In 1935, Alice Bull became the first woman to compete at the U.S. National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry, and in 1961 was the first woman to earn a Distinguished Rifleman rating. She also became the first woman on the NRA Board of Directors in 1949.

Alice Bull

In 1930, Marjorie Foster became the first woman to win the King's Rifle Prize, the top award at the National Rifle Championships at Bisley, England.

The prestigious contest was open to current and former members of the British military. Marjorie qualified because she had volunteered as a transport driver in the Womens' Legion during World War I. She went on to be a leading shooting competitor and served as vice-president of the British National Rifle Association.

Marjorie Foster

People knowledgeable about shooting will ask why I didn’t include any number of other women's marksmanship champions. A complete history of women shooting champions could well be an entire series of articles and videos, which further demonstrates the point that shooting is very equitable and has been a venue where people of all demographics can participate fairly as equals for over a century.

If you want better equity in sports, choose a better sport!

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