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The National Rifle Association (NRA) has honored three women
for their exceptional contributions to the preservation of the
Second Amendment and the shooting sports through education, advocacy,
volunteerism, and legislative activism in support of the goals
of the NRA. As an instructor and coach, Reynolds has worked tirelessly
to train young people in the safe use of firearms, particularly
as a rifle counselor at a girls' summer camp in Vermont for many
years. She continues to strive to get women and young people
involved in hunting and shooting through her support of the NRA's
Women on Target® Program, Youth Hunter Education Challenge,
and Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program. Reynolds joins a distinguished list of honorees for the Ludington Award including NRA's presidents Marion Hammer and Sandra Froman, directors Sue King, Patricia Clark, Susan Howard and the late Alice Bull, the organization's first woman director. Last year's honoree was Women & Guns editor Peggy Tartaro.
Darnall, an NRA Life member and former Board member for the Illinois State Rifle Association, has devoted her life to giving others the opportunity to enjoy hunting and shooting. For 12 years, Darnall served as an Illinois Department of Natural Resources hunter education instructor. Since 1994, she has run Darnall's Youth Shooting Clinic, which attracts more than 100 youths annually and is the longest-running NRA youth camp in the country. As an NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun Instructor and Chief Range Safety Officer, she has taught some 1,500 youths how to safely enjoy the shooting sports. On a daily basis, Darnall provides gun and range services to her local community through the business that she owns and operates with her husband, Ron. Ferraro-Creigh uses her position as a classroom teacher in Houston, Texas, to teach young people about gun safety and Second Amendment rights. A champion of women's interests in the shooting sports, she has penned articles for such national publications as Women's Outlook, Women & Guns, SHOOT, and Cowboy Chronicle. She served on the Board of Directors of the Cowboy Action Shooting Club for four years, and is involved with the Single Action Shooting Society, which was founded by her husband, Harper. Ferraro-Creigh's vigorous support of the shooting sports has added countless youngsters and women to the ranks of hunters and shooters through the years. An accomplished hunter and competitive shooter, she also holds many titles in her shooting sport of choice, Cowboy Action Shooting.
Eight other woman have been honored with the Hammer Award
since its inception. |
Edie P. Reynolds,
an NRA Board member, is the recipient of the 2007 Sybil Ludington
Women's Freedom Award, which recognizes achievements in support
of Second Amendment rights and/or the shooting sports at the
national level. A lifelong shooter, Reynolds is a 5-time Women's
National Champion in Smallbore Prone and has numerous other shooting
titles to her credit. She was an assistant rifle coach at North
Carolina State University from 1974 to 2000, and is an NRA Certified
Coach, Instructor, and Range Safety Officer. 
Two Marion P. Hammer
Woman of Distinction Awards, which recognize achievements in
support of Second Amendment rights and/or the shooting sports
at the local, state, and regional levels, were presented this
year to Susan J. Darnall of Bloomington, Ill., and Kate Ferraro-Creigh
of Cypress, Texas. 
Ferraro-Creigh,
together with five other SASS women, presented a special "Afternoon
Tea" for NRA board members and spouses at the 2007 annual
meetings, detailing their costumes, "aliases," and
other information on the fast-growing sport of Cowboy Action
Shotting.
