Shooting – A View from inside

You do what!!! This is the reaction many people get when they casually mention in conversation that they shoot rifles at paper targets as a sport/hobby. There seems to be an almost universal and erroneous expectation that all shooters are out to kill things. While some people do quite legally use guns for hunting, many shooters would be horrified at the prospect of killing anything other than their paper target. Sadly many people cannot accept the truth of this and continue to view shooters with a degree of suspicion, fostered, no doubt, by the horror stories involving armed criminals and their illegal use of guns. The number of legally held guns used in crime is very, very small indeed although that doesn’t prevent some authorities sometimes claiming otherwise, when they wish to frighten the public in order to promote an alternative agenda.

Target rifle shooting is an absorbing and character building sport where everyone can compete equally. Men, women and disabled shooters can all compete on equal terms. However the sport regrettably receives a very bad press. The media, whether through ignorance or design, continually confuses legally certificated target shooters with those of the criminal classes who use guns for nefarious purposes. TV and films don’t help much as the only time guns are seen they’re inevitably used to kill or injure people, and of course they rarely miss. The truth is undeniably a lot different. To shoot a gun accurately requires a cool head, good balance, excellent muscle control, proper training and lots and lots of practice.

This bad press leads some people to view guns themselves as inherently bad. But they’re no more evil than a cricket bat or golf club. They’re all sporting implements that could easily kill if misused, but used properly are not dangerous at all. It is of course the person using them who is, or is not, good, bad, or indifferent. Quite simply the certification process is designed to weed out those who might be unsafe or unsuitable to have access to guns. Obviously the criminal element in society doesn’t play by the rules and is unlikely to apply for a certificate to have a gun legally, especially when illegal guns appear to be so easy to obtain on the black market. In reality the illegal guns used in crime are very rarely stolen legally held guns, since a lot of target guns are pretty specific and would not be suitable for most criminal uses. Anyway it is probably easier to smuggle guns from abroad than to steal them, given the high levels of security required by the police for a certificate holder to possess guns.

To obtain a firearms certificate in order to possess your own gun is not straightforward. Application must be made to the police and only after extensive checks on health, stability and general attitude would the police consider issuing a certificate. A criminal record or association with known criminals would almost certainly ensure failure of the application. For target shooting membership of a Home Office approved club is a necessity and clubs usually require applicants to serve a three to six month period of probation during which their attitude, safety and character will be assessed and training given.

In addition shooters are well aware that their sport is only tolerated by the authorities because of its’ excellent safety record and self-regulating of safety is so successful that in the UK more people are hurt playing football than shooting.

But why would anyone want to shoot a gun at paper targets in the first place. Well the simple answer is that it’s a lot of fun and the challenge of improving on the previous core is intoxicating. The concentration needed for success is significant and is a brilliant way to unwind from the pressures of modern life while the level of fitness necessary to shoot well is surprising. Shooting also teaches mental and physical control of a level disparate to many purely physical sports.

Since a major part of success is mental and physical control rather than sheer brute strength, shooting is an excellent sport for many disabled people. They may not be able to take part in some more physical sports but they can almost always learn to shoot, often very well indeed and they compete on equal terms. There are even blind shooters who use an audio signal to tell when they are aiming at the target centre – and do it safely. This emphasis on control rather than strength means that men, women and disabled shooters can all compete equally on a level playing field.

Some people who try the sport give up because they claim it’s boring. Compared to the way guns are portrayed on TV and film it probably is as there’s no script saying the shot will be a perfect score. To obtain a good score in most events requires the shooter to be still, quiet and concentrating hard, not at all similar to the TV hero who blazes away and rarely misses.

Target shooting is a very popular pastime in the UK. Possibly because we’re actually quite good at it. Most people would be surprised to learn how many shooters they know. Most shooters don’t advertise the fact, partly to avoid the usual reaction but also to help preserve security. There are clubs in most parts of the UK and they are often keen to recruit new members. Rather than succumb to the traditional view that all guns are bad, try visiting a local club to see for yourself what it’s all about.

Sureshot