John Sigler's exclusive NRAblog.com interview

NRA President and retired Delaware Police Captain John Sigler had a long list of responsibilities at this week’s National Police Shooting Championships.

But his biggest goal this week? “My goal is to renew old friendships. I’ve been a PPC shooter since I joined the Dover Delaware Police Department in 1971. I was also a referee here — actually, not here but at NPSC when it was held in Jackson, Mississippi. With that comes the opportunity to talk to the officers and find out what’s important to them now.”

“The NRA is one big family, and we have to remember NPSC is just one of 180 different programs. I talked to a competitor who is the chair of his community’s Friends of NRA Committee. I talked to another officer who is an Eddie Eagle officer. This is a grand opportunity to reacquaint myself with men and women in law enforcement here in the United States and throughout the world.”

Mr. Sigler walked throughout the Law Enforcement Exposition all week, talking with competitors, vendors, volunteers, and spectators.

“I’ve been out of the police force since 1991. I think it’s important for the NRA to have the ability to get the information we need to better serve the officers out in the field who are helping to keep their hometowns safe. It’s crucial.”

Mr. Sigler has a long history with the Championships, although he says he can no longer recall his best score.

“I competed at NPSC from 1972 to '80, when it was in Mississippi. I was a line referee and then later the chief referee from '92 until about four years ago. Dwight Van Horn and I shot together at a regional competition in Maryland. We probably met around 1977. I first met Tommy Gaines at the Police Nationals in Jackson probably in '72 or '73. Kayne Robinson, current Executive Director of General Operations, and I probably met on the line in Jackson MI in 1973. So these are long-term friendships.”

The rivalry and good-natured ribbing between departments has been noticed by the NRA’s President. He says it's always been a part of law enforcement competitions.

“You’ll see a sense of rivalry between federal officers and state officers, and state officers and county officers, detectives verses wheel cops — you’ll see that sense of rivalry, as in, ‘You’re not doing real police work’ — but it’s all friendly, and everyone understands that the community is really a tight-knit community.”

“We’re all in this together. Our challenges and our various communities that we serve may be different but it is one universal challenge. We each take an oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States and our state’s constitution and to serve the people that pay us. It is a service type of career and you understand, maybe not immediately but eventually you come to understand that their strength is in the strength of the communities they serve.”

Mr. Sigler has some valuable advice for competitors — advice I have heard time and time again this week from seasoned competitive shooters.

“Keep your sense of humor. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Take the job very seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.”

Regarding competitors hoping to improve their scores:

“I’ll quote Dwight Van Horn. I remember him being asked right after he and his partner won the world title a few years ago, before he was a referee and before he was on the NRA Board of Directors, “How do I get that good?” And Dwight’s answer was, “You stand knee-deep in brass.”

And that is the official word from the retired Police Captain, former and current competitive shooter, practicing attorney and dedicated defender of the Second Amendment John Sigler.