BASC / PACEC Report : The Value of Shooting

[SevenSixTwo]

The Value of Shooting by BASC / PACEC

Highlighting the economic, environmental and social benefits of shooting to the UK

Main findings

In the UK today…

• Shooters spend £2.5 billion each year on goods and services
• Shooting supports the equivalent of 74,000 full time jobs
• Shooting is worth £2 billion to the UK economy (GVA)
• Shooting is involved in the management of two-thirds of the rural land area
• There are 4 million (est) airgun owners – of which 1.6 m shoot live quarry
• 600,000 people in the UK shoot live quarry, clay pigeons or targets
• Shoot providers spend nearly £250 million a year on conservation
• Shooters spend 3.9 million work days on conservation – that’s the equivalent of 16,000 full-time jobs
• Two million hectares are actively managed for conservation as a result of shooting

http://basc.org.uk/the-value-of-shooting/

Click here for the The Value of Shooting report in PDF format - http://basc.org.uk/wp-content/plugins/d ... php?id=744




• Shooters spend £2.5 billion each year on goods and services
• Shooting is worth £2 billion to the UK economy (GVA)

~ So what is it worth? £2 or £2.5 Billion?

tesnews

[Sandgroper]

• Shooters spend £2.5 billion each year on goods and services
• Shooting is worth £2 billion to the UK economy (GVA)

~ So what is it worth? £2 or £2.5 Billion?

I'm no statistician or economist but it could be both depending on how the answers are categorised and interpreted.

GVA means Gross Value Added which is (very simply and my understanding only) all income - all expenses appropriate to that area or sector. From that, I would say that shooters spend £2.5 billion each year on goods and services both from in and outside the UK of which £2 billion contributes to the UK economy or GVA.

However, this is my reading of your question and as I'm no statistician or economist it could be totally wrong!

[Gaz]

Great news if you wear tweed and shoot either live quarry or clays.

Anyone who doesn't wear tweed and shoots something other than a shotgun is apparently irrelevant, bar a passing reference in the stats towards the end. Still, as the whole thing was apparently a BASC venture it's not surprising that it reflects their core membership best.

[Sandgroper]

Great news if you wear tweed and shoot either live quarry or clays.

Anyone who doesn't wear tweed and shoots something other than a shotgun is apparently irrelevant, bar a passing reference in the stats towards the end. Still, as the whole thing was apparently a BASC venture it's not surprising that it reflects their core membership best.

Your post comes across as quite churlish, Gaz. :roll:

Yes, BASC/PACEC organises the survey but

The study has benefited greatly from the co-operation of all of the partner organisations:

British Association for Shooting and Conservation Limited (BASC), British Shooting Sports Council (BSSC), CLA, Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (CPSA), Countryside Alliance (CA), Game Farmers’ Association (GFA), GunsOnPegs, Gun Trade Association (GTA), Moorland Association (MA), National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO), National Rifle Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (NRA), National Small-Bore Rifle Association (NSRA), Scottish Land & Estates (SL&E) incorporating the Scottish Moorland Group (SMG), Scottish Enterprise (SE), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Scottish Country Sports Tourism Group (SCSTG).

We are also grateful to the Association of Professional Shooting Instructors and the United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association for providing data and distributing online survey invitations. http://www.shootingfacts.co.uk

I have not read the whole report (just skimmed) but Target Shooting appears to be mentioned several times and one of the case studies is specifically about Bisley - not something you would expect going by your post.

[Blackstuff]

Several target shooting questions were asked in the survey and opportunities to denote how much you spend (time and money) doing such.

[Gaz]

I filled in the survey as well in the hope it'd show a full picture of all UK shooting, not just the bit which gets airtime on Countryfile.

OK, there's a nod to the bigger matches at Bisley in the report, but from reading the whole thing you'd think the vast majority of shooting is people with shotguns in fields. It's only by looking at the tables in the back (page 22) do you find the 600,000 fullbore rifle "gun days", 1.3 million smallbore "gun days" or 1.4 million airgun "gun days". Adding together those figures plus the 150,000 black powder "gun days" gives us 3.45 million range-oriented "gun days" per year - which compares favourably to live quarry shooting (3.6 million) and clay pigeon shooting (3.9 million).

Maths was never my strong point but I make it very roughly a third of all UK gun days which are spent on a range shooting non-live targets. The report, meanwhile, focuses mainly on live quarry hunting, conservation and clays. I'm unconvinced that all the RFDs, traders, gun shops and the like don't really feature at all.

Of course, the reason for that may well be that target shooting is a vanishingly small blip, economically speaking, compared to Bambi-bashing!

[Chapuis]

Of course, the reason for that may well be that target shooting is a vanishingly small blip, economically speaking, compared to Bambi-bashing!

And you wonder why shooting is such an easy target for the antis when you display such division amongst the various shooting sports.

[Sandgroper]

Of course, the reason for that may well be that target shooting is a vanishingly small blip, economically speaking, compared to Bambi-bashing!

And you wonder why shooting is such an easy target for the antis when you display such division amongst the various shooting sports.

[Gaz]

Of course, the reason for that may well be that target shooting is a vanishingly small blip, economically speaking, compared to Bambi-bashing!

And you wonder why shooting is such an easy target for the antis when you display such division amongst the various shooting sports.

I'm guessing, not making a statement of fact. Still, I'd guess your average small RFD's turnover would be little more than a rounding error compared with, say, a big Scottish commercial shooting estate's income.

[Chapuis]

Talking turnover here not profit or loss, what would the turnover be for a small viable RFD (Full time not part time)?

I'm guessing that being as firearms are generally high value items the turnover of a small RFD would possibly be a fair bit more than a large Scottish estate's rounding error on income with regard to shooting. There may be large sums of money involved if say several keepers/stalkers/gillies are employed but I don't think many estates will be exactly raking it in. In fact I would think that many would be struggling to break even and are run more for the benefit of the family or to employ locals as has been done traditionally. In either case I don't think anyone is going to become a millionaire through either activity.