Rifle Shooting Sports

The Tennessee Shooting Sports Association is the Tennessee affiliate association for the National Rifle Association of America.  The NRA is the oldest major marksmanship organization in the U.S.A.  It was founded in 1876 to promote marksmanship among the citizenry.  As the Tennessee affiliate of the NRA, TNSSA ascribes to the NRA goals and objectives and they organize state championships under the NRA model.

Tennessee Shooting Sports Association

A primary objective of the Tennessee Shooting Sports Association (TNSSA) is to serve as the NRA sanctioning body for Tennessee State Championship Tournaments associated with the NRA competitive shooting disciplines, preserving the legitimacy and honors associated with such tournaments.  The NRA competitive shooting disciplines include Air Rifle, BB, Black Powder and Muzzleloader, Highpower , Pistol, Silhouette, and Smallbore.  Each of these NRA competitive shooting disciplines has an assigned member of the Association Board of Directors that is authorized to be the TNSSA authority responsible for the sanctioning of State Championship Tournaments in these disciplines.  These Board members are referred to as Shooting Discipline Directors (SDDs).  The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance to the SDDs for the sanctioning of State Championship Tournaments in their respective NRA shooting sport discipline.

In order to encourage competition at the highest levels for both adults and juniors, the TNSSA sanctions all State Championship Tournaments conducted in Tennessee in the NRA adult and junior disciplines and in the USA Shooting/CMP Junior disciplines. This is done by arrangement with local clubs and schools in Tennessee.  Any local club or school club wishing to conduct a State Championship Tournament may request permission by contacting the TNSSA.

There are other affiliations with groups that promote marksmanship.  Two important ones are the Civilian Marksmanship Program and USA Shooting.

Civilian Marksmanship Program

The Civilian Marksmanship Program or CMP mission is to promote firearms safety training and rifle practice for all qualified U.S. citizens with special emphasis on youth. The CMP operates through a network of affiliated shooting clubs and associations that covers every state in the U.S. The clubs and associations offer firearms safety training and marksmanship courses as well as the opportunity for continued practice and competition.
The CMP was created by the U.S. Congress. The original purpose was to provide civilians an opportunity to learn and practice marksmanship skills so they would be skilled marksmen if later called on to serve the U.S. military. Over the years the emphasis of the program shifted to focus on youth development through marksmanship. From 1916 until 1996 the CMP was administered by the U.S. Army. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (TITLE XVI) created the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice & Firearms Safety, Inc. (CPRPFS) to take over administration and promotion of the CMP. The CPRPFS is a tax exempt not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that derives its mission from public law.

The CMP and the NRA jointly run National Champioinship Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio every summer.

USA Shooting


USA Shooting is the Governing Body for the Olympic Shooting Sports in the United States.  They are chartered and partially supported by the U.S. Olympic Committee.  USA Shooting’s mission is to prepare American athletes to win Olympic medals, promote the shooting sports throughout the U.S., and govern the conduct of international shooting in the country.

College and other athletes who aspire to shoot at the international and Olympic level will find themselves working with USA Shooting on a regular basis. For an interesting tutorial about Olympic shooting, click here and then select “Shooting”.

Other Affiliations

TNSSA has a common interest relationship with the Tennessee Wildlife Federation [formerly the Tennessee Conservation League].  The TWF is the Tennessee affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.  In the past, the

TWF/TCL and the TNSSA have collaborated on important matters concerning sportsmen in Tennessee.