I used to be the President of the Armament Club at the University of Minnesota (Extremely Liberal College).

First, I must ask you these questions before you start:
1.) Is your college very Liberal / Anti-Gun?
2.) How much $$ are you willing to spend out of pocket each month toward this club?
3.) Is there anywhere off-campus (but VERY CLOSE to campus) that your club can meet?
4.) How many HOURS per week are you willing to devote to this club?
5.) Is there a decent rifle range nearby (within ~30 minutes drive) that students can use for training/practice?
6.) Do you have any ideas on acquiring funding for your group?

I ask these questions for specific reasons.

1 - If your college is EVEN HALF as liberal/anti as the University of Minnescrota, then you're going to be fighting ONE HELLUVA DIFFICULT UP-HILL BATTLE!  I've had to face threats from the campus Police Department, I've had to deal with the University turning down our re-application processs (to continue the club into the next academic year) on many times due to it being "Too Controversial" meanwhile the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender group (and La Raza [the rise as in against the US, and the local muslim/islamic group, and many others...] always gets approved, and gets over $15,000 of the taxpayer's money per year...  

2 - To start, each college usually requires a minimum of 3-5 students that are interested, and these people will have to be registered as club "Officers" such as President, Treasurer, Secretary, etc...  I asked the funding issue because the brunt of the cost of starting your own campus group/club WILL COME OUT OF YOUR POCKET!  (Unless you have some sort of funding miracle)  The officers and you will have to pay for $$ to make up fliers, posters, etc...  You will have to use these materials to acquire members.

You're going to have to start up BOTH AN EMAILING LIST, and a WEBSITE.  Usually the College will appropriate website space, and an Email account for your group/club.

Then you're going to have to formulate a "Constitution" for your group that outlines its purposes, its activities, practices, goals, and regulations.  Usually the Constitution is required to be sent in with the application for processing.  If they see something they do not like, you're not approved.  Write it carefully!

3 - You're also going to have to find some place to hold group meetings.  Campuses usually have rules/regulations regarding the possession of firearms on campus.  Read these to a "T", and know them like the back of your hand.  Most student groups have the opportunity to request a classroom or some space on campus for weekly or bi-weekly meetings, etc...  If you plan on teaching basic firearm safety (which was the goal of my past group/club), you're going to need to use examples...  YOU CANNOT USE CAMPUS SPACE if you intend to bring firearms on campus in violation of school rules.  Do not violate these rules, because it's just not worth the threat of getting kicked out of college.

4 - You must determine how much time per week will be spent with this group/club.  THIS  WILL AFFECT YOUR GRADES!  If your group meets ONCE per week, for only an hour, you will then have to spend about 2-3 hours per week planning what you're going to do or accomplish with that meeting!  Make sure you can deal with these time committments.  If you cannot, this isn't for you!  (Trust Me)

The way my group did it was we had weekly meetings (until we were "shafted" by the University) at an on-campus location where we would discuss firearms, their activities (competitions, practice, etc.), how to pick out a good firearm for yourself, popcorn & movie nights (usually out of your pocket if you can't get funding), and other things...  Then when we needed to do safety training we would hold that at an off-campus location (usually someone's apartment), and then we would proceed to the shooting range to blast a bunch of ammo through paper and instruct them on decent, basic shooting form and safety.  Then we'd refer them to professional institutions (such as Defensive Edge, NRA, DNR, etc.) for certifiable training.  They would then come back and join the group for competitions, and events that were held.  Generally the group would go shooting ONCE OR TWICE PER MONTH.  Any more than that, and students likely won't be able to afford it...

TRUST ME when I say that this could get expensive for not only you, but for other members as well.

5 - Is there a nearby firing range that can be used for safety training, target practice, and competitions?  If not, then this club will be going NOWHERE!  Where are you guys going to go shooting?  A once-per month field trip is expensive for a club.  YOu've got to check college regulations for student organizations.

My University had rules about INSURANCE, AND TRANSPORTATION OF STUDENTS.  Getting INSURANCE for your group (if required by the school) IS GOING TO BE IMPOSSIBLE.  We were unable to get ANY group insurance, and as such all students that wished to attend needed to sign liability waivers.  IT WOULD BE SMART TO HAVE THEM SIGN WAIVERS EVEN IF YOU HAD INSURANCE!

As far as TRANSPORTATION, my school also had regulations about transporting students around for activities.  My school said ALL STUDENTS MUST be transported in UNIVERSITY OWNED VEHICLES that were RENTED to the group (for a decen price though), and were driven by UNIVERSITY CERTIFIED DRIVERS (meaning some group members would have to take a University headed driver's safety course for driving high-capacity 15 passenger vans)  for the event/practice!  HOWEVER, if you cannot get insurance, you cannot get access to such vehicle rentals, and you cannot go...  WITHOUT A WAIVER.  They will likely have to sign a transportation waiver as well to keep liability issues down.  Then you will have to have members personally drive/commute others to the events in their own vehicles...

6 - What do you intend to do in order to get funding for your group???  We were *NEVER* approved for EVEN THE MOST MINIMAL FUNDING for a student group because we were "Too Controversial," and some administrators even went so far as to say that we were "Promoting Gun Violence..."  WTF!?  We were teaching gun safety, and introducing people into the sport of shooting?  That's promoting gun violence???    You're going to have to register this group as a Non-Profit student organization as well.

Here is what I suggest for funding ideas:
1.) Dues.  You're going to need to charge dues for each member...  Generally something like $35 per semester should work out okay...  You're going to have to budget this to figure out what is best.

2.) Advertising.  Your student group's website can rent out some space for advertizing.  Use this $$ to help pay for movie nights, ammo, range fees, etc...  But before someone will invest in ad space on your website, they've got to see that it's getting exposure (a "Hit" counter will be needed).

3.) Fundraising.  Your school can suggest some fundraisers that you can do to get $$...  Here it varies greatly.  Anything from classic door-to-door sales of Candy & BS, to telemarketing for donations from Alumni (donations for the school, not your group, which will be paid an hourly wage), or working at a food stand at the nearby football stadium or something...

4.) Competition Funding.  Get your members into competitions A.S.A.P.!!!  Make sure they get so good that they keep winning.  If you're REALLY lucky a gun-related company can give you massive funding for sponsorship!  One of my group members was so good that H&K sponsored him in rifle competitions, AND they paid his way through college!

5.) Anything else you can think of to get funding just shy of armed robbery.    J/K!

It's A TON OF WORK, but it SURE IS FUN!

Good Luck!

(You're gonna need it!)  

Quoted: You need 2 things - 1. You NEED  to get NRA certification as a range safety officer / instructor AND you need NRA affiliation for your club. 2. You NEED to make it as safe, structured, organized, and legitimate as possible. Enhances credibility. NOW go call the NRA. I applaud your efforts. But do it the right way so that **** I *****don;t have to explain to some anti gunner why guns AREN'T bad just because someone got killed in YOUR organization.

Oh, I forgot to add a +1!!! You're going to likely need this for the sake of Credibility.  One of our officers was NRA certified.  Get that taken care of A.S.A.P.!!!

That's a good point about checking for group discounts!!!  My college group would bring in between $4000 to $7000 per year in money for the shooting events (depending upon frequency of shoots).  This is because it was an indoor range where you had to rent each lane, and pay a certain amount per person who would share the lane.  Usually we got 3-4 lanes every time out, and some people rented guns, some people brought their own, etc...  It adds up quickly to say the least!  They should give you SOME kind of discount.  If they don't even try to bargain they suck, and you should look into another range.

The University of GA is likely a lot less liberal than this cesspool I attend.  You should be in pretty good shape.

As far as memberships and funding go... It WOULD be wise to get some of the University's Faculty/Staff/Professors in on it if you can!  They *WILL* add to the club's demographics!

During our march at the Homecoming parade it was funny because some anti-gunners were shouting at us things like "Baby Killers!" or "Racist Psychos!"...    That's something I simply cannot fathom...  RACIST?  Where the hell did they get that!?  My club had AT LEAST ONE PERSON from ever "Generic" ethnicity you could think of...  We had people in our club from around the world, and we all got along GREAT!  Then they called us Racist when there's multiple ethnicities & skin colors marching together?  WTF?  

Thankfully you've gotten a chance to talk to the local PD.  The one here is VERY anti-gun, and if you lived on campus, you had to store your firearms in the local PD's gun vault, and had to fill out paperwork to pick up or drop off your gun.  There were only certain hours of the day when you could do this as well.  The guns always had to be inspected for legalities, modifications, and whether or not they were loaded, blah blah blah.  All the while you heard such things as, "Why on earth do you need such guns like that anyway?"    It's just a Post-Ban AR-15, and a 10/22 in a bullpup stock!  

I had to deal with a shitload of hassles all the time up here in Northliberalville Minnesota, but in the end it really *WAS* worth all the time & money I put into it over those years.  If I really stop to think about it, I can honestly say that I have introduced over 50 people to shooting!  About 30 of which now own their own firearms and shoot recreationally, hunt, or shoot competitively.  Some are still pretty good friends, and I've brough them with to local AR15.com shoots as well.

You may have some bad times, but overall, you'll have some GREAT fun, and you'll get to meet new people...

a good idea to promote firearm safety as well as have fun with other college students...

And THAT is what it is all about!  You're going to have fun if you can persue this further!  

Quoted: Check out our club in the liberal stronghold of America, Madison WI. I'll shoot you an email... In the meantime, check out our website. -Adrian Secretary, SAFER UW-Madison Gun Club http://safer.rso.wisc.edu

You Poor, Poor, BASTARD!  That's ONE PLACE that I'm DAAAAAAYUMN glad I'm not going to college!  And I think that the University of Minnesnowta is LIBERALVILLE...  That's just WORSE...  

And to top it all off...  YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN WINSCONSIN!    I'm sorry...  

NOTHING beats watching Gopher's Hockey...  NOTHING!  

Vi-Queens suck though...  As does all football, IMHO.  (Can't tell I played hockey for 9 yrs, huh?)

Did you graduate???  Don't tell me that too much "Wisconsinite Common Sense" rubbed off on you, and you suddenly got the brilliant idea to commute from SD to WI every morning for class...  

Thank god for CCW.  Nowadays I feel naked (especially on campus) when I can't carry my 1911 on my side!

Minnesotans have to continue our fight to get back our CCW!!!  (Maybe you should help as well... Then U can get a non-resident permit, and carry in our state as well - Write Emails to some of our politicians!)

Congrats!!!  

I hope some of my advice helped a little.

Now just work to keep it going if you can!

I'm glad that you were able to get some sponsorship, as that is truly the key to the success of such an organization.  Getting the sponsorship, certified training, and then keeping it going...