COLUMBUS — The First Great American 2A Gun Run will be held Saturday, July 1, 2017, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Columbus.

The run allows participants to go for a motorcycle ride during a hot summer weekend and support the charitable work of Buckeye Firearms Foundation, which includes the FASTER Saves Lives program to train Ohio teachers to protect children at school.

This event is sponsored by Buckeye Firearms Foundation, the Columbus Chapter of the Second Amendment Motorcycle Club, and Thunder Roads Ohio Magazine.

“It’s a poker run with a twist,” said Clint Lake, creator of the event and Training Coordinator with Buckeye Firearms Association. “If you’ve ever done a charity poker run, you know how it works. You ride from location to location and collect poker cards. Best hands at the end of the run win prizes.

“The twist is that you carry your concealed handgun and shoot at targets at some of the stops to collect wild cards and improve your hand!”

The course is a little over 100 miles around central Ohio. Riders have five stops, three of which will be shooting ranges.

At each stop, riders get one playing card. Plus at each of the three shooting stops, riders will also have one shot to put a hole in an index card — at 20 feet, within 3 seconds, using a concealed carry firearm with a .380 or larger caliber.

Riders who collect three index cards with a hole can turn them into one “wild card” to replace a card and get a better hand.

The run starts at Vance Outdoors in Obetz and continues to Cap City Outfitters in Hilliard, C&A Harley Davidson in Plain City, Black Wing Shooting Center in Delaware, Bullet Ranch in Pataskala, then back to Vance Outdoors.

Lake said there are more than $1,000 in prizes. “Riders with the top three hands will win prizes. Plus we’ll hand out some instant prizes. But of course, the real purpose of this friendly competition is to support the charitable work of Buckeye Firearms Foundation.”

For complete details and to register for the event, go to www.2AGunRun.com. The cost is just $20 per rider plus $5 for an optional additional rider.

Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots organization dedicated to defending and advancing the right of citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities, including self-defense, hunting, competition, and recreation.