JANUARY 25, 2016 - RAMBLINGS OF A SHOOTING BUM - MIKE LUTES

RAMBLINGS OF A SHOOTING BUM

January 2016 - SHOOTING A HOBBY OR A SPORT

It's been a good winter so far and as of mid month we've not had much snow or cold weather in southern New Brunswick. If this keeps up it will be good for NB wildlife. Our heating and snow removal cost should be lower as well but the cost of petroleum products appears not to follow the cost of oil any more. It must be something to do with the new math?

It's decision time for me and, despite my excitement and
preparation, I have again had to withdraw from the Canadian Bisley Team. There are many contributing factors but the biggest is the cost. As my knees continue to deteriorate and the waiting time for replacement grows, I have faced the fact that I can't continue to work enough overtime to cover what I've projected to be over $ 12000 in cost for my 2016 shooting program and a similar amount each year till the world championship in 2019. Attending the Imperial Championship in Bisley as a Canadian team member requires about $5000. It breaks down to about 200 hours of over time work just to shoot the Imperial Championship at Bisley.

The cost to train to win at a high level is little understood by most people and is beyond the financial means of many of us who must balance our family, work and sport life. I've been fortunate in that I have been able to fund my competitive shooting by working overtime but 30 years working as a Millwright has not been kind to my knees. I am not comfortable asking, (the gun clubs or other organizations I support and belong to), for money to help support my personal program because I know that there is little interest from most firearms owners in contributing toward building a successful International shooting team. There is little belief that success in an international competitive shooting sport can do anything to influence firearms policy in Canada so the vast majority of Canadian firearms owners do not support the provincial or the national shooting sport organizations or the shooters that contribute to the effort. Without support and assistance our International effort is greatly handicapped and it's challenging to fill our teams. Actual team practice and training is usually during competition.

I have great respect for the men and women who commit their time and money to try to field a competitive Canadian team. Their effort has had some extraordinary success but is often rewarded with frustration and disappointment due to the above challenges. I have counted myself among these people who consider target shooting to be a great sport and a test of uncommon skills and ability.

But I believe the writing is on the wall for target shooting sports in Canada and the end is near. Shooting will soon only be recognized as a hobby in Canada and that will quickly spell the end of civilian shooting. I belong to several gun clubs that are active but most of their members rarely show up to shoot and only belong to the club so they can claim they own a restricted firearm for target shooting. The law makes it difficult to obtain a RPAL unless they are club members and claim to be target shooters. If sleeping with a Glock or an AR under the bed makes them sleep better, so be it, but the fact remains that in Canada that is not considered a valid reason to own firearms by the majority of our population so they are forced to join the gun clubs.

I continually hear from many clubs ; "What will the RNBRA do for us?" and "What does the DCRA do for us?" These are the organizations that organize and operate competitions and they are being asked to do more and more without much support from the clubs or grass roots firearms owners. The RNBRA. the DCRA and the SFC are committed to promoting the sport and they run or sanction provincial and national competitions . They are struggling because most firearms owners see no need to hold competition and do not promote shooting as a sport. I'd even go so far as to say that actual proven in competition proficiency is intimidating to most firearms owners . Most firearms owners won't buy a membership in their provincial associations and if not forced by the CFO would not even join a gun club. They don't believe or understand that when shooting as a sport dies so will private firearms ownership. (We could do better engaging them but it's an uphill battle).

Firearms ownership for self defense has not been generally accepted as a valid reason to own firearms but there are practical shooting competitions and programs run provincially, nationally and internationally where Canadians participate in these target shooting sports.

For most of us Hunting, Collecting or Target Shooting are the only "acceptable" reasons we own firearms. As hunting comes under greater challenges and our International shooting teams fail to attract the financial support needed for success it's likely that before long the general public will not recognize shooting as a Canadian sport. Once this happens it won't be long till we have much less "acceptable" reason to own firearms.

By and large our grass roots firearms community is not united and does not recognize and support competitive shooting sports. Most firearms owners aren't personally interested in competitive shooting and know little about it. It's been my experience that most feel awkward even discussing their hobby because they are often embarrassed about their skill level.

As a competition shooter I constantly try to reinforce shooting as a sport and I'm convinced the only salvation will be in convincing people of something they have forgotten over the last 50 years. That shooting sports are good for our society. The only way to do that is to take it as a personal responsibility to become aware of the facts and discuss, promote, and support shooting sports.

My Rambling is based on my personal experience as a competitive shooter and my volunteer work at the provincial and national level to promote competitive shooting sports.

I recognize and value the work that has been, and is being done, but my feeling is that we must promote shooting as the great sport it is, or the fear and misinformation surrounding firearms issues in Canada will continue to grow.

Educating those ignorant of the above is a monumental task - successful competition shooters are patient and resourceful people that can help. Helping them to increase the sport recognition through success in competition should be a priority for everyone that enjoys responsible firearms ownership in Canada.

SPREAD THE WORD & TALK IT UP. You can't fix stupid but you can help educate the ignorant.

Mike Lutes - Gone shooting