Local youth shooting program hosts annual gun show

Firearm enthusiasts from across Southcentral Alaska braved the winds last weekend to attend the 17th annual Alaska Youth Education in Shooting Sports (YESS) Christmas Extravaganza and Gun Show in Raven Hall at the Alaska State Fairgrounds. This show raises funds for the organization and is paramount for the continued success of youth shooting sports programs in Alaska.

“It’s a huge event for the kids,” Alaska YESS president and founder Neil Moss said. “Those kids are all running around here working their tail off… It takes a lot to make this a success.”

Profits from this event support teams across the Alaska YESS organization. Most of the practice ammunition for teams is paid for from this show as well as some travel expenses and equipment. Funds are distributed to the different teams based on their member participation and volunteer hours worked for the event.

Lloyd Pehrson has been part of Alaska YESS for four years and currently serves as the captain of the Redington Huskies High School team and the captain of the Alaska YESS traveling Varsity Team. He has volunteered to work the show since he began shooting in the program. Pehrson worked to set up for this year’s event on Friday and worked shifts as security on Saturday.

As important as it is to volunteer his time to raise funding for his team, Pehrson said that working the show has introduced him to the shooting and outdoor community in the Valley.

“It’s a great experience,” Pehrson said. “I think a lot more youth should get involved with it.”

During his time with the program, Pehrson has learned leadership and discipline. He has also learned how to engage with the public and interact with vendors at each show. Pehrson said has felt the direct effects of this show through the ammunition it has supplied and his ability to travel. He has traveled out of the state six times for competition and has earned a spot on the Schreiner University shooting team in Texas next year.

Pehrson encourages more youth to get involved with shooting sports. He said he hadn’t shot a 12 gauge until he was interested in joining the team four years ago. Pehrson has now taken his own friends out shooting to introduce them to the sport and said each one has enjoyed it.

“Just get involved. It’s not as hard as you think,” Pehrson said. “All you have to do is pick up the shotgun with someone who’s a little bit experienced or a coach, and by no time you’ll be loving it.”

Despite the weather, Moss said that vendors reported having a good show. He said many sold firearms and that craft vendors had success selling their artwork. With one of their largest turnouts of vendors ever, Moss was pleased with the success of this year’s show and the efforts that the youth put in to make it happen.

“All in all, it’s been a great show,” Moss said.

The 7th Summit Shooting Park, located in Knik, is the home of several Alaska YESS shooting tournaments each year. The program recently installed two skeet fields to use in competition in addition to their sporting clays course. Houses for trap shooting are set to be built this coming spring when the ground thaws. All of these projects have been completed with the goal of bringing the youth of Alaska shooting sports something that they can continue to use for generations to come.