An aerial view of the range that will host the Area 1 Championships
In an already busy month in Humboldt County and Winnemucca, one more event is on the docket for shooting enthusiasts.
The United States Practical Shooting Association will be hosting its Area 1 Championship from May 16-19 at the range located off of Rose Creek.
About 550 shooters and their families will converge on Winnemucca for the match.
USPSA Area 1 includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. There are 51 clubs within 12 sections.
The United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) is the national governing body of practical shooting in the United States under the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC).
Over 37,000 active members and over 440 affiliated clubs makes USPSA the largest practical shooting organization in the United States and the second largest region within IPSC after the Russian Federation of Practical Shooting.
Gianni Girodano shoots at a competition.
“We are excited and Winnemucca has just been an amazing support system for us,” said Shannon Giordano. “This something that we look forward to hosting. Nampa is the main range had hosted the event for the last few years and their crew was just tired and were looking for a break. Finding places for this is getting tougher and tougher. Some states are not as second amendment friendly as Nevada is. We are lucky that Winnemucca and Humboldt County is.”
Gianni, the son of Shannon and Giovanni Giordano, has been shooting since he was nine years old and has made a name for himself in the sport.
Gianni is the 2023 and now 2024 IPSC US National Standard Champion and has sealed his World Team spot for the US for the World Shoot in South Africa.
He also has six national junior championships to his credit and was in the top five in the nation.
The Area 1 Championships will have National as well as World Champions competing along with many Area Champions.
“Through the years he has won six junior national titles,” Shannon added. “As a junior, he was still competing as adults. It is the equivalent of say like the Wright brothers in the rodeo world. They are teenagers, going to high school but they are also competing at the NFR. That is basically what Gianni has done. We never knew at nine, he would be the shooter he is now.”
Shannon noted that his love for shooting came at a young age out with gun skills and safety from his father and it just stuck from there.
Through is notoriety and shooting throughout the country, the group looked to him to see if Winnemucca was a possible host site with the large 85-acre shooting range and the more friendly second amendment rights for a place to host.
Practical shooting is a sport that evolved from experimentation with handguns used for self-defense.
The researchers were an international group of private individuals, law enforcement officers, and military people generally operating independently of each other, challenging the then-accepted standards of technique, training practices and equipment.
The work was, for the most part, conducted for their own purposes without official sanction.
Competition had begun with the "leather slap" quick draw events of the 1950's, which had grown out of America's love affair with the TV westerns of that era.
However, many wished for a forum that would more directly test the results of the experimentation that had been going on in Big Bear, Calif., and many other places.
Competitions evolved to test what had been learned, and just for the pure fun presented by what quickly became a sport requiring competitors to deal with constantly changing scenarios while shooting rapidly and accurately with full power handguns.
The competition is free to spectators and are encouraged at the event. Spectators have to sign a waiver and wear eye and ear protection. If you don not have ear protection, you can get them at the event.
“There will be designated area for them to watch,” Shannon said. “We loved people to video us as well. To be honest a lot of placed we go to is not very welcoming. This would be something different for the shooters. We just want people to come and check it out. It is something fun to see. Some the best shooters in the country will be at this match. You will get to see national and world champions and a lot of good shooters from around the country.”
Shannon noted you will see grandpa shooting with his grandson and noted the cool thing is the sport is open to all ages and goals.
The range is located on Spring River Road off of Rose Creek. There will be signs to direct you to the range.