50 cal ban dropped?

[safetyfirst]

I had a T-shirt once that said “6mm is a gateway calibre”

(Airsoft guns fire 6mm bb)

I’ve been invited to start a club by a local private range and if I decide to go for it, public participation will be a key component.

I don’t want an armed society, I don’t want guns for self Defense, I don’t want armed police, I DO want people to be trusted to go out and enjoy shooting just like they enjoy driving, archery and chopping carrots with a sharp knife.

[Blackstuff]

I put myself in the 'younger generation' and from my perspective, young people definitely want to shoot but from what I have seen, most don't even know that they can.

I keep my shooting to myself, as in I don't broadcast it online and don't discuss it with people I don't know. My friends and family that do know frequently ask me if they can try it, especially those around 30. In the last 2 years I have successfully gotten 5 friends and colleagues into shooting who have joined clubs and got their FAC.

All of them said the same thing on their first try - "I didn't know I could do this?!?". Even when I was serving, it amazed me how many people had no idea what you could shoot as a civilian.

I've often thought that clubs and representative bodies don't advertise or make the wider public aware of shooting, maybe due to possible negative attention? Quite a lot of clubs I have seen recently are full and aren't taking new applications. How are young people meant to get into shooting if they don't know about it and in some cases, can't find a club to start at? Even guest days at Bisley are only attended by guests of (please correct me if I am wrong) NRA members who have invited them. Shooting as a sport doesn't seem to be outwardly/publicly facing and the community is introvert. As above, probably due to negative attention which it would undoubtedly receive if it pushed out a 'come try shooting, you might find it fun!' campaign. Imagine the newspaper articles...

The NRA push out some good coverage of what happens at Bisley over Facebook but I'm still yet to see an advert for a local range or organisation come up. You only see those pictures if you go searching for them and follow the NRA specifically. Again, perhaps less is better? It's a difficult one.

One other thing I've noticed is that a number of younger people come into shooting with an interest in modern rifles and disciplines, aka 'black rifles' and IPSC, PSG, Gallery, CSR etc. These attitudes/interests don't seem to be received with the same enthusiasm as they would have perhaps been received 25 - 35 years ago, pre-pistol and semi-auto bans. Maybe I'm wrong, it's before my time but seeing the lad down the end of the line getting remarks because he's popping away with his .22 AR-15 and the next guy with his straight pull AK (or MARS rifle ) suggests to me that there's a gap which is perhaps generational? Similar to music? Maybe I've just seen a few bad examples.

I started shooting properly at 13 years of age and the first club I joined only catered for prone shooting with an Anschutz, jacket and sling. I enjoyed it but we had young people turn up, shoot 3 or 4 times and then never return. The older pax would ask me "why?". The simple answer is (in my opinion) that they want to shoot more varied/exciting firearms and disciplines. I guess it's like wanting to get into a band at school, going to your music lesson and being told that you can only learn the recorder. It puts you off.

But yes, there is also unfortunately a large proportion of youngsters who see firearms as evil, but hasn't that always been the case?

I'm typing this from the US the eve before going out with an AR-10 to ping steel from 100 - 1000 yards and then burn through 400 rounds on an M60, so I can't complain.

Lots of good points and experiences i've also had.

Without doubt in my experience the main problem is the general lack of awareness that shooting even exists in this country other than clay pigeon and game shooting, both viewed as 'elitist' past times by the majority (not sure why clays has that reputation but can half understand game shooting), coz "they banned gunz didn't they?"

Everyone I know more than a passing acquaintance knows I shoot and while i don't push it as an 'agenda' (think of how vegans normally go on), i will happily bore someone to death about it if they do want to discuss it. I don't 'advetise it', but i don't hide it either.

With regard to actual advertising; aside from the sheer cost of it you may not be aware that radio and television advertising of gun clubs/shops is actually prohibited!! It falls under the same category as an advert for a brothel or sex shop!? Printed ads etc are permitted but in order to get the best chance of targeting the audience you want you're most likely to see these in shooting magazines which the average Joe Public aren't going to read.

It is the legislation that curtails 'open days' (where anyone can 'come in off the street' without prior notification to the police*) - which differ from 'guest days' (which are pre-approved by the police and limited to 12 days per year), and only a handful of venues have the wherewithall to organise them, Bisley being the main one. Guest days are similarly restricted by legislation and the guest is supposed to be a personal acquantance of a member, hence why you only see friends/family of existing members normally at these days.

*the exception to this are clubs which use the miniature rifle range exemption but they're currently trying to get that 'loophole' closed with amendments to the OWB

As also experienced clubs can be reluctant to draw in new members simply because they are already at capacity. Its a Catch 22 situation; do you get a load of new members in and risk losing your existing ones because they get sick of not being able to get any shooting done/have their time limited, or do you not open the membership and risk the club stagnating/putting off new shooters? With my local PSG club we are now very much at capacity and will likely have to start turning people away soon as there simply aren't enough Range Officers to cover any more squads of shooters. As one one person shoots at a time with PSG this means that the squads are getting bigger and bigger and that means less and less shotoing/more time between shooting for everyone.

[safetyfirst]

I thought the miniature rifle range rules were being tightened In terms of the owner not needing an FAC etc, does anyone have any concrete facts on this?

[dromia]

We don't advertise or actively seek new members in our club any more because when we did we ended up with an influx of potential new members which swamped our capacity to mange the tyros through their probationary period. So we felt we were doing more harm than good in creating a demand that we could not meet and therefore giving a negative attitude to potential shooters.

The vast majority of clubs are lay run and are also not open the whole time so finding the internal capacity to ensure that new members get the attention they deserve to help them become safe and responsible shooters and gun owners is always limiting as is range time that isn't too much of an inconvenience to the existing members.

We still get a steady stream of new members via existing members and enquiries from the few places where our club is listed and our membership is healthy. In the event that our membership dwindled then a more proactive recruitment strategy would be pursued but when you are at capacity with time, skills and people then there is only so much you can do, I suspect the majority of voluntary clubs are in the same boat.

Even us keen shooters struggle with being a member of only one club, to get all the facilities I require to pursue all my shooting interests I need currently to be a member of four clubs along with land permissions.

Shooting is facility intensive and until we get a growth in facilities at local levels, correctly run and managed then the option of exponentially growing the number of gun owners and the facts about legal gun ownership in the larger community is limited.

[pluginal]

After the handgun ban back in the mists of time I gave up shooting. Luckily I sold my handguns before having them confiscated for chicken feed. I was under the assumption that was that and all that was left was bolt action sporting rifles. Around two years ago after talking to a shooter at work I was informed that semi automatic .22 rimfire rifles were still legal to own and use and this peaked my interest again. Needless to say I went along with my work colleague and was again hooked. I now have two .22 semi's a .223 bolt action and a 12g semi and am again enjoying my shooting. If it wasn't for my colleague I would still be shooting my co2 BB guns in the garden with no knowledge of just what is available at my local shooting club. Still miss the handguns but still got a smile on my face.

[Pete]

It was an open day at Bisley that got me and the girlfriend hooked on full-bore.
We took a couple of neighbours with us the second time around..........they seemed to enjoy plinking steels with semi 22's the most.
A great pity they stopped these open days in favour of guest days, but I can understand the amount of work and cost they involved.

Pete

[James84]

you may not be aware that radio and television advertising of gun clubs/shops is actually prohibited!! It falls under the same category as an advert for a brothel or sex shop!? Printed ads etc are permitted but in order to get the best chance of targeting the audience you want you're most likely to see these in shooting magazines which the average Joe Public aren't going to read.

Well I never knew that. Interesting! I've often heard that 'shooting is a taboo sport' in the UK, and I guess that this could make it true