After a successful debut in 2006, the National Rifle Association will hold its 45th National Police Shooting Championships (NPSC) at Shooting Range Park in Albuquerque, N.M., October 1–4, 2007, with a practice day scheduled for September 30.

More than 400 law enforcement officers from federal, state, municipal, and private agencies, as well as five foreign countries, are expected to compete in this year's tournament, which will include two new team matches and a new tactical event.

"NRA is very happy to bring NPSC back to Albuquerque after the tremendous reception we received last year," says NRA President and retired Police Captain John Sigler.

New to this year's tournament will be a pair of team matches, the Two-Officer and Four-Officer Stock Semi-Auto Matches. A police tactical event is also in the works, which will be fired on an action and reaction-type course using multiple firearms and multiple targets. This event will be held in addition to the overall championship.

The value of NPSC rests in the fact that it tests police shooting skills. Competitors start with guns holstered and fire timed matches with both revolvers and semi-automatic pistols from varying distances and positions to simulate real-life law enforcement scenarios. The aggregate scores from the revolver and semi-automatic pistol matches are used to crown a national champion. The defending NPSC champion is Philip Hemphill of the Mississippi Highway Patrol; he has four consecutive NPSC titles to his credit, and eight overall in the event.

For more information about NPSC, or to register for the competition, go to http://www.nrahq.org/law/competitions/npsc/npsc.asp.