By W&G Staff

The 2005 Annual Meetings of the National Rifle Association (NRA) featured the election of Sandra Froman of Arizona as the group's second ever woman president and the recognition of several other women by the association.

Froman, an attorney from Tucson, AZ, has been a board member since 1972 and served as both 2nd and 1st vice president of NRA, before being elected by the board this year as president.

She has already garnered much media attention and was featured as ABC News' "Person of the Week" following her election.

Froman has been a trustee and first woman president of the NRA Foundation and has been a trustee of the NRA's Firearms Civil Rights Fund. She was also past president of the 4-H Shooting Sports Foundation.

Traditionally, NRA presidents serve for two one-year terms. John Sigler of Delaware is the group's 1st vice president and Ronald Schmeits of New Mexico is 2nd vice president.

A Friday afternoon women's luncheon and auction was the setting for the presentation of the first Marion P. Hammer Woman of Distinction Awards for one or more of the following on the local, state and/or regional levels:

Outstanding performance in competitive shooting, outstanding dedication to hunting ethics and conservation, or outstanding promotion of recreational shooting activities; Outstanding educational contributions to advancing the purposes and goals of the NRA, including appearances for the purpose of public education and/or significant writings; meritorious performance under perilous conditions through the lawful use of a firearm in defense of self and/or others; Dedication to the protection of the Second Amendment through extensive legislative and/or legal contributions, and/or Outstanding volunteerism through personal involvement with, and promotion of, NRA programs and issues with significant recognized impact.

The Award is named for Marion P. Hammer, the NRA's first woman president, a current board member and executive director of Unified Sportsmen of Florida (see story in May/June issue for more on Hammer's career.)

Awardees were Robin Ball, Rozanne Byczkowski, Suzi Rouse and Alice Tripp.

Ball, of Washington State, is a hunter safety instructor, firearms instructor, range owner and manager, Refuse To Be A Victim® regional counselor, Eddie Eagle instructor, lobbyist, activist and advocate, As a co-founder of the Washington chapter of Second Amendment Sisters and Armed Informed Mothers, Ball has exemplified outstanding dedication to the protection of the Second Amendment and was very instrumental in promoting concealed carry legislation in Washington. She was the recipient of the 1999 NRA-ILA Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award and is a member of NRA's Range Development Committee.

Byczkowski of Maryland, has demonstrated outstanding performance in competitive shooting, promotion of the shooting sports, and volunteerism. She is well respected and deemed a leader in her community. Byczkowski is an NRA Certified Instructor in five disciplines, a Chief Range Safety Officer, Women on Target instructional shooting clinic coordinator and Refuse To Be A Victim® certified instructor. She volunteers countless hours to her positions within the Monumental Rifle and Pistol Club

Rouse of Oklahoma has conducted one of the largest Women on Target instructional shooting clinics in the United States for the last several years. Also to her credit was the formation of the Women's Division of the Oklahoma City Gun Club. A member of several Second Amendment organizations, Rouse still finds time to teach hunter safety education to thousands of youth, maintain NRA instructor certification in several disciplines and serve as a Range Officer for the Oklahoma Youth Hunter Education Camp competition. She has introduced hundreds of women to the shooting sports.

Tripp of Texas is Legislative Aide for the Texas State Rifle Association. Her effective lobbying efforts have played a major role in the defeat of over 100 anti-gun bills that have been introduced to the legislature. Respected as a key player by legislators and her constituency, she has been instrumental in the passage of numerous bills, from the Range Protection Bill, which will protect new ranges from frivolous lawsuits, to the passage of Senate Bill 501. Tripp was one of the first certified instructors and regional counselors for the Refuse To Be A Victim program and has conducted Refuse seminars for hundreds of men and women and trained over 170 instructor candidates.

Also awarded at the luncheon was this year's Sybil Luddington Women's Freedom Award. The Luddington Award, which was begun in 1995, recognizes outstanding women on the national stage.

Past awardees have included Hammer and Froman as well as former Institute for Legislative Action executive director Tanya Metaksa, NRA Women's Policy Chair Sue King, Texas State Representative Suzanna Gratia Hupp, Alice Bull, the NRA's first woman director and Women's Recreational Shooting Association founder Peggy Siler.

Sybil Luddington was a Revolutionary War heroine who as a 16-year-old in 1777, took over from a wounded messenger and alerted troops to an impending attack on Danbury, CT.

The Award recognizes the contributions of women who have demonstrated dedication to the promotion of the Second Amendment, have made outstanding achievements in educational contributions while advancing the purposes and goals of the NRA and, through legislative and legal contributions, have significantly impacted the preservation of the shooting sports at the national level.

Current NRA Director Patricia Clark (also of Connecticut) was the 2005 recipient of the award.

Clark, through her participation and promotion of the shooting sports to youth throughout the country, has made outstanding contributions in the area of education and volunteerism, her award declared. It also cited her leadership role in the Stratford Police Athletic League as a young adult to her involvement with the US Olympic Training Center's Coach's College, She has introduced hundreds of juniors to the shooting sports over the past 25 years, and the quality of her tutelage is apparent by the many championships, awards and achievements of those whom she has taught. She is a member of the women's Randle Team, and an NRA Training Counselor. As an NRA Class C and Class B coach, 1996 USA Shooting Coach of the Year and recipient of several national records in the shooting sports, she has truly demonstrated her love, passion and commitment for the shooting sports and for educating our future generations. Clark serves on several NRA committees: Chairman, Air Gun Committee & Youth Programs Committee; Vice Chairman, Education and Training Committee & Smallbore Rifle Committee; Member, Competition Rules & Program Committee.
Runner-Up for the 2005 Sybil Luddington Award was W&G Exceutive Editor Peggy Tartaro, a position she has held since 1992.

Tartaro is also a board member and treasurer of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) and a frequent source for national media exploring the topic of women gunowners.

Sandra Froman of Arizona is the newly elected president of the National Rifle Association. Froman, who served a total of seven years in vice presidential positions with the group, has been on the board since 1972. She's shown here receiving last year's Sybil Luddington Women's Freedom Award, which went this year to NRA director Patricia Clark of Connecticut. (NRA Photo)

Recipients of NRA's 2005 Sybil Ludington Women's Freedom Award and Marion P. Hammer Woman of Distinction Award were recognized in a ceremony during the 2005 NRA Annual Meetings in Houston, Texas. Pictured (left to right) are: Roxanne Byczkowski, Suzi Rouse, Alice Tripp, Patricia Clark, NRA Past President Marion P. Hammer and Peggy Tartaro. Photo courtesy of National Rifle Association.