Last week marked the first time that the Wyoming Magpul Governor’s Match was held in Cody. About 250 shooting enthusiasts from across the country came to the Cody Shooting Complex for the three-day nationally recognized competition.

Contestants included Bill Lhotta from Golden Colorado. He shot a Rock Island Armory VR80 12-gauge shotgun in the open shotgun stage.

“They’re super fun to shoot,” Lhotta said.

The participants spoke highly of the Cody Shooting Complex and Wyoming’s gun-friendly atmosphere.

Greg Jordan, 2017 and 2018 NRA World Shooting Champion, was among those competing. As a Pennsylvania native, it was a long trek to Cody.

“I love Wyoming,” he said. “I wish I could make it out here more.”

Dave Hartman, host of the weekly podcast 3GunShow, came out from Texas to the event. He also commented on how welcoming the Cowboy State is to gun enthusiasts.

“The state has done a good job of creating a friendly area for firearms, whereas the rest of the country is becoming much less so,” he said.

Hartman was also happy to see local media giving the competition attention. He said media in other states often ignore the events, even back home in Texas.

Otis Smith, president of the Cody Shooting Complex, said the title sponsors of the event were impressed with the facility and are talking about returning in future years.

“We do our best, enough that they want to come back. It’s a world-class facility,” he said. The shooting match, sponsored in part by the governor’s office and now in its third year, had previously been held in Cheyenne.

Smith said the Park County Commission has been very supportive of the complex, and pointed out an event that brings so much business to restaurants and hotels in Park County has an important impact on the local economy.

“We couldn’t do this without the help of the commission and the people of Cody,” he said.

Like Smith, Greek Stroh, chief range safety officer, has been associated with the complex for decades. He’s seen it grow from a small gun range to a 310-acre facility in that time.

“This was just six hills of ... dirt out here. It’s come a long ways,” he said.

Besides the hotels and restaurants, the event benefited local gun shops and manufacturers. John Burns of Wyoming Arms in Cody helped with one of the rifle stages, setting up a 6.5mm Creedmoor. He took a lot of pride in the fact almost no one missed the target with the firearm.

The match followed rules of the United Shooting Sports Leagues. Pete Resing, owner and president of USSL, said he founded the organization to make match rules less restrictive and improve the experience for the competitors.

“For the shooters, by the shooters. That’s our motto,” the third-generation Marine said.

Resing said he’s lived all over the country and is “not really from anywhere.” He’s directed matches all over the country, and said Wyoming is “still my favorite by far.”