RIFLE SAFETY TRAINING

All biathlon competitors in the US must complete a rifle safety training session prior to their first race/clinic.  Historically, this was handled by local clubs which varied by location and did not have a way to track participants.  Starting in late 2023, the US Biathlon Association introduced a National system for rifle safety training to insure everyone receives the same information and also allows for the identification of those who have completed the training.  This is expected to be the mandatory method for rifle safety starting at the end of 2024 but the system is currently in place and it is recommended that you complete this as soon as possible.  Even if you have completed a rifle safety session previously, you will have to complete the new training.

The online training will take 30-60 minutes so don't wait until the morning of an event to try and complete it.  Race venues will not be setup for you complete this on-site so be sure to tackle this at home.  There are two components to the training - the online course with quizzes, and an in-person evaluation by a certified rifle safety assessor.  The in-person portion will be a review of key components of the online training to verify that each person actually completed the course and retained the most important points.  You can review the online course at any time as a refresher to be ready for your in-person assessment.

New US Biathlon Rifle Safety Certification Procedure (as of June 2024)

Visit center.usbiathlon.org and select the ‘Register’ option.  If you already belong to the USBA, use the same email that you utilize when renewing your membership but it appears that you will need to create a different password for the training center website.  If you do not have an account with USBA, use your preferred email and create a new password.  Note: you do not need to belong to or join USBA to take the rifle safety training.

Once you’ve logged in, select the ‘Education Center’ option.  From the menu, select ‘U.S. Biathlon Courses’ and then ‘Basic Rifle Safety Course’.  After selecting the course, click the ‘+Enroll’ button and then ‘Go To Course’.

This should bring you to the course program.  Begin at the top of the list, ‘Instructions’, and complete each portion of the course.  You can take a break at any time and return as needed. This works best on a computer but should be able to be completed on a mobile device if necessary.

Work through each section and take notes as needed.  There will be quizzes for some sections and a final quiz to complete the course.  If you miss a question, you can repeat that section’s training and retake the quiz as necessary.  Do not rush through these courses as once you have completed the online training, there will be an in-person review with a rifle training assessor who will review portions with you to insure you have taken the course.

When you have completed the training, you should receive an email showing your online completion status.  Print or save this on your phone to present to the rifle training assessor for your final evaluation.  If you lose or don’t see the email, it will be saved to your profile in the training center website.

The final assessment can be performed at any time as long as it is handled by a USBA certified rifle safety assessor.  This will be a short review of your knowledge of rifle safety presented in the online course.  You can always retake the online portion as a review at anytime to refresh your knowledge.  Most NY races will have an assessor present but you can contact the race director to make sure one will be available prior to the race.