shooting is a sport that encompasses all ages and abilities.

[paulbradley]

Thought I would share this pic taken today at Bisley. For me it sums up my favourite part of shooting... The people who do it. I have always found the sport has been a great leveller. You might have an 80 year old judge shooting next to an 20 year old dustman. Its a sport which caters for us whatever our age or physical ability. The current air rifle bench rest champion is in his late 80s! I have been involved in a lot of sports. Most of them have a shelf life. As I get older I can't hope to compete with younger guys. My body just doesn't heal fast enough anymore. With shooting that is not an issue. I have met so many lovely people all from different backgrounds. Sam (the chap in the pic) is one of my neighbours. We would likely never have become friends if it weren't for our shares interest in all things target related... Hurrah for shooting and all of its positive aspects..

[Sandgroper]

True, but the IOC didn't like it when a woman won the gold medal in a mixed competition (1988 IIRC). As a consequence they split them into male and female competitions - so much for equality!

Edit: It was the 1992 Skeet competition and didn't hold a women's skeet competition until 2000.

[Christel]

Very true, at the old club we used to be members of there was an elderly couple in their 80s. Just taken up shooting. Brilliant
Fair to say that when asked to put on cans the man would sometimes not react, he did not hear that well, so the wife would nudge him.
At the other end of the scale there was a youngster who was with his dad, he had club membership on dispensation. So the sport spans many generations which is of course brilliant.

[ovenpaa]

Such true words Paul. I was talking to an 80+ year old at Barton Road last year that sadly was going to have to miss the Imperial, first time ever because his wife was unwell. I really hope I will still be shooting when I am his age, quite what it would be remains to be seen however as long as I am shooting and doing things with guns I will be happy.

[ukrifleman]

It is quite true that shooting is a great leveller, enabling people of all ages and abilities to take part.
One of the greatest tragedies of the pistol ban was to deprive many disabled people of their sport.

There was a young lad in our club who was paralyzed from the waist down and shot a 9mm pistol from his wheelchair.
He was a good shot and frequently came in the top 3 or four in club comps, even winning on one occasion.

The sense of achievement and pride on his face was a picture, as he had prevailed against all competition without any special dispensations to accommodate his disability.

The boost to his self confidence and pride was all down to being able to compete on level terms and win for no other reason than he was the best on the day.

Sadly, that was taken away from him and many others due to the pistol ban.

ukrifleman.

[paulbradley]

Great point UKrifleman. A real shame and something the politicians and the media never touched on. For every lunatic committing crime with a gun there are thousands of stories like yours in which shooting has greatly enriched someone's life. My disabled friend and fellow shooter lost his wife of 49 years, 2 years ago. He tells me that shooting and his friends saved his life. Without them he swears he would have just given up. It got him through some tough times. Not that he would dare admit that to his FEO who would likely have revoked his FAC on the grounds of depression or some such BS..

[lasbrisas]

I'm not so sure it's an easy sport to get into for the younger generation, especially for under 14s. When me and my 2 boys at the time (13 and 10) wanted to get into this sport we found that we had a lot of hurdles, for example insurance etc for clays, joining a target shooting and also a PSG club and not being geared up for Junior Membership and even though they are now 18 and 15 they are still the only full time members in that age group. We have basically had a go at everything and all now have our FAC and SGC but getting those for my boys was a big process, even though they have a lot of experience and have won competitions, many people at clubs have said on numerous occasions that they wish they had more junior members.

[John MH]

Last Bisley CSR League Match had young lads 12 & 14, women and plenty of pensioners taking part.

[Demonic69]

many people at clubs have said on numerous occasions that they wish they had more junior members.

When I, and I assume many on here, was an air cadet (other cadet corps and youth organisations are available) there were loads of youths interested in shooting. Sadly nobody ever explained what was available outside of the cadets, I didn't even realise what could be owned until I was twice as old!
I don't doubt a few of the more affluent youths would have had their parents dishing out extra pocket-money for target shooting.

[Gaz]

many people at clubs have said on numerous occasions that they wish they had more junior members.

When I, and I assume many on here, was an air cadet (other cadet corps and youth organisations are available) there were loads of youths interested in shooting. Sadly nobody ever explained what was available outside of the cadets, I didn't even realise what could be owned until I was twice as old!
I don't doubt a few of the more affluent youths would have had their parents dishing out extra pocket-money for target shooting.

I don't understand why we, as a sport, don't do more to convert cadets across. Bearing in mind that cadet shooting bears little or no resemblance to real-world shooting (enough bullshit and paperwork to put anyone off for life), we can offer them so much more than the rigid and prescriptive rangework that the military-style system offers them. The bonus is that they're a ready market who already know what fun shooting is - it should be a no-brainer.