Guns and Shooting Online, has grown enormously since its inception in 1997. What started as a personal project has somehow become a major web presence. Every month Guns and Shooting Online has hundreds of thousands of visitors and hits numbering in seven figures. This success is unexpected, stunning, and gratifying. And I owe every bit of it to you, loyal Guns and Shooting Online readers.

Guns and Shooting Online has now become, literally, a full time job for me. I spend at least a couple of hours a day just answering the e-mail I receive, and many more hours throughout the day and night writing, editing, and revising articles for the web site. It is a rare night indeed that I am asleep before 2:00 AM.

And I love doing it! It's the most satisfying job I've ever had. Unfortunately, what with the required computer/internet consultants (I am no computer wizard, for sure!), ISP, domain name, server, bandwidth, and other fees chuckhawks.com has become a substantial drain on my limited financial resources. As an otherwise retired person, I am faced with the absolute necessity of putting Guns and Shooting Online on a paying basis. And frankly, I need an income from a full time job. But I insist on maintaining my ban on pop-ups and all of that other garbage that mars so much of the Internet experience.

In late January 2004 a project intended to do just that finally reached fruition: the Member Side of Guns and Shooting Online. This project has been ongoing for a long time. "The Rifle Cartridge Page," "Handgun Cartridge Page," "Product Review Page," and "Tables, Charts, and Lists Page" appeared over a two year period beginning in 2002. These, and the hundreds of articles they already include plus the new articles that will continue to appear, are the basic building blocks of the Member Side of Guns and Shooting Online.

Hundreds of other Guns and Shooting Online articles appear and will continue to appear on the "General Information Page," "Handgun Information Page," "Hunting Stories page" "Shotgun Information Page," "Rifle Information Page," and "Muzzleloader and Black Powder Page," which constitute the Main Site of Guns and Shooting Online. All of these remain available to the public at no charge. And a synopsis of many of the popular Member Side articles has been added to these pages for those who are unwilling or unable to join. Sharing information remains the fundamental purpose of Guns and Shooting Online.

I hope that the Member Side will put Guns and Shooting Online on a stable financial footing. I have insisted that it be easy to subscribe, completely secure, and inexpensive. Most of all, I think it is a good read. And I can promise you that your name will never be put on a list or sold to anyone by me or anyone else at chuckhawks.com. That is why we keep the subscription information we ask you to fill out to the absolute minimum necessary to process your payment. Suzie at WebMarketers.net has provided invaluable assistance in making the Member Side a reality and deserves the lion's share of the credit.

The Member Side is intended to allow the continued expansion of Guns and Shooting Online. To all of those who are now or will become members I can only say, from the bottom of my heart: Thank you and God bless!