From: "Alex Hamilton", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>To claim that something is a sport implies that a large
>>number of people are participating. The fact that something
>>is shot in Switzerland or USA does not constitute a sport
>>here - I wish it did, but we have to be realistic.
>Ah! And just how many people do synchronised swimming I
>wonder and that's in the Olympics. Incidentally full bore
>target rifle isn't so where does that leave your sport.
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Cricket is not in the Olympics either but it is still a sport. I think
Steve's example (balooning) was better in terms of rarity, because
Synchronised Swiming is not a sport. It a very small part of Swiming,
which is practiced by many thousands in UK alone - probably millions
worldwide. There is also an important point in that neither the
balooninsts nor the swimers use any device or implement that could be
used to kill at a distance or to rob a building society! I am not being
flippant!
>Alex your argument is total rubbish. Following your line of
>thought no new shooting discipline would ever get off the
>ground. Practical pistol, one of the greatest boosts the
>shooting sports got in the '70s, certainly would never have
>started.
Yes, I remember several TV programmes during the post Dunblane build up
to the pistol ban, showing lines of ferocious looking characters
blasting away with shotguns and large magasine capacity pistols at
humanoid targets at the rate of 15 rounds in 5 seconds until the targets
competely disintergrated and they were ankle deep in fired brass and
empty magazines. And 99.99% of great British women cried in agony when
they heard that that such harmless and worthwhile sport was in
danger........... then signed the Snowdrop petition twice!!!!
>Alex as far as interest is concerned I wouldn't miss the
>Bisley type of full bore rifle shooting if it ceased to
>exist tomorrow.
You will need to accept and quickly too that "Bisley type of shooting"
is better able to survive without your support than your type of
shooting (you have not told us what that was) without our support, but
that is somewhat academical now because both our opinions are truly
irrelevant.
What really matters is what the government thinks that the population
wants and it terms of publicly perceived danger 50 calibre is somewhat
above any other discipline that I can think of.
>However, I am prepared to do everything
>in my power to make sure it doesn't because any type of
>shooting sport is worth preserving. Could you show the
>same sort of consideration please?
Had you read my reply to Tom Charnock (appered on this list yesterday)
you would have known that I am not just prepared but that I am actually
doing everything I can to save any sport, including foxhunting, and your
remarks are well and truly out of place.
>Too much has been compromised away already in the name of
>eing realistic, its time to be bloody minded.
This is where I have to disagree and say that the only thing that stands
between us and the government (read "ban") is the Great British Public
and we will not endear ourselves to them by demanding our rights and by
being bloody minded. AT the moment the public are disinterested and
that is our great loss, so concentrate on getting them on our side and
there might yet be hope fo us.
Alex
--
Alex, if you think the public in general can perceive any
difference between TR and shooting .50s I think you are being
naive.
I think we are in danger here of letting the police define the
context of the debate. Rifles are almost never used in crime in
this country or any other European country for that matter, period,
regardless of action type or calibre. There is no danger. This
is merely paranoia on the part of ACPO, brought on by reading
some of the silly stories that have come out of the US. None
of which are even remotely relevant here at all, even if they
were true, which they aren't.
Also I think taking a swipe at practical pistol is unhelpful.
I really don't think it would have mattered what type of target
shooting was portrayed on TV, and I have to say I don't recall
seeing any footage of practical or anything else for more than
a fraction of a second. The issue was never really debated,
it was a pure kneejerk reaction.
If what you are doing to help shooting sports is to say that
it is okay for .50s and practical pistol to be banned, then
you aren't helping.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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