Interesting Ideas for sports shooters
BASC opposes devolution of airgun law(22/06/09) STOP PRESS - there's now an on-line petition at Scottish gun ban petition which you may wish to sign.
BASC press release BASC director of firearms, Bill Harriman, said: The call for devolution of firearms control powers is an overtly political initiative that is not evidentially based. Scottish statistics show a low level of firearms incidents, which are in decline. Education and enforcement of existing legislation is undoubtedly the best way to address any problems. The vast majority of people who use airguns do so lawfully and there are already sufficient powers available to deal with the small minority who break the law. BASC believes that a new airgun law that only applies in Scotland will be almost impossible to enforce, and BASC will strongly argue against it. ENDS For more information please contact the BASC press office on 01244 573031 The British Code of Advertising Practice lumps shooting in with prostitution and pornography- and this is our response. Phoenix Shooters Association's response to the BCAP consultation RIFLES FOR SALE(16/3/09)
.308 Win CZ550 American Bolt-action Brand new!
.223 Rem Remington 700 Classic De Luxe Bolt-action Brand new! .243Win Mannlicher SSG Police. Synthetic stock, bull barrel. With scope. Used £750-00 .357 mag Winchester 94 AE Underlever with 16 barrel Used £275-00 .451 Enfield Volunteer Pattern Percussion Rifle by Parker Hale, with bullet mould. ££350-00
.22LR CZ 452 Varmint 11mm dovetail for scope mount Brand new! Walnut stock with heavy 20 screw cut barrel Bolt-action £295-00 .22LR TOZ bolt-action carbine 2 x 5 shot and 2 x 10 shot magazines. Made in the Imperial arsenal at St Petersburg, this smooth, accurate and rugged carbine will astonish the gun snobs. Brand new! £150-00 .17HMR CZ 452 Varmint 11mm dovetail for scope mount Brand new! Walnut stock with heavy 16 screw cut barrel Bolt-action £325-00 Sirocco Sound Moderator for .22,.17 rifles. Thread ½UNF Brand new! £25-00 Weight 150 gms Length 171mm Diameter 30mm Black anodised powder coated finish. See Bill Grint, or ask Mike or Mary. The Thin Read Line(26/04/09)
The militaria book store with expert knowledge behind it - no less than Dr Richmond Dutton!
Clothing Sale(22/04/09) County Saddlery at Great Boughton are having a clearance sale of country clothing - see - County Saddlery Country clothing sale.SHOOTING SPORTS SURVEY(20/04/09) There has been much discussion over the past year or so about the threats and challenges posed to the shooting sports, and the efficiency or otherwise of the shooting organisations - so if you have a minute, could you possibly let us know your views?Who guards the guardians?(3/04/09) It seems that Durham Firearms Licensing Department have a problem - see BBC News.I wonder if any certificate holders in Durham have been "invited" to surrender guns? We often hear of firearms enquiry officers suggesting to certificate holders that they should "get rid of some guns" because they've reached a mythical number at which the enquiry officer believes they should unstall a complex and expensive alarm system. Of course if they reduce the number of guns then they won't have to install such a system....... Target Sports is dead, long live TargetShooter!(1/04/09) As you may know, "Target Sports" magazine which was published by Blaze Publishing sadly closed last month - but now several of the contributors have got together to produce the web magazine TARGETSHOOTER.Please have a look - you'll find much of interest - but please remember it's in it's early stages and has been put together at very short notice - so don't be too critical of the or minor error. The Government don't know....(2/04/09) update After an exchange of e-mails and telephone calls, the Home Office have agreed to remove the original publication discussed below and replace it with this second edition.They have corrected the faulty figures and charts, and perhaps next year we might see a more accurate set of figures produced earlir? We'll see. (30/3/09) The Home Office has just produced figures for firearm and shotgun certificates in England and Wales. In the days of paper, pens and typewriters these figures were produced about 5/8 months after their currency, but we've been waiting for these figures for two years now, and this is the age of I.T ! Embarassingly, the "new" computer system you've paid for cannot tell us how many people own guns legally, nor can it tell what types of gun they are, nor how many of them, nor where they are ..... in fact the quality of information is far poorer. Not only that, but NO figures AT ALL can be produced for 2006/7, due to the "transition from in-force data collection systems to the NFLMS." (National Firearms Licensing (computer) System.) It also seems that some of the figures are just plain wrong. Nottinghamshire appear to have refused one in every five firearm certificates and every other shotgun certificate during 2007/8 - far from believeable. I've spoken to the Home Office abut the matter and they're looking into it - it may wll be that they will publish an amended set of figures as a result. So - the system appears to provide worse data later, rather than better data sooner. If we law-abiding sports shooters were to take ths approach to recording our guns, we would - quite rightly - be prosecuted. It's interesting to see that the firm which produced this system - ANITE - has no reference at all to this system on their website - I'm sure if a company had produced an effective national government computer system within budget and on time, they'd be telling the world about it..... ? Just try a search on their site for NFLMS, Firearms, Firearms Licensing, Firearms computer system, gun - whatever. Perhaps they're just modest. SPORTS SURVEY(23/03/09) Sport England has commissioned a survey of sports people.The (very short) pre-survey is at - Sport Survey More details are at - Sport England survey details Past surveys have shown that Shooting is one of the largest participation sports in the UK - so let's get as many shooters as possible respond. The detailed survey - should you be selected - takes about a quarter of an hour; I've just completed mine. MORI are still asking people to register for the survey at Ipsos MORI Sport Satisfaction Survey. Please ask any other shooters you know to visit our site and respond to this survey. - THANKS ! Anywhere but Bisley(24/03/09) It seems that the government are stubbornly determined to stick to their stupidity in having the Olympic Shooting sports at Woolwich, which everyone but the government and LOCOG agree is unsuitable. This is an exerpt from the House of Lords Hansard of 3rd March 2009.
Home Office Consultation about de-activated Firearms(02/03/09) The Home Office have just issued a consultation paper on the subject of de-activated firearms, which you can find at - De-activated Firearms Consultation Paper.There seems to be a degree of desperation to "do something, anything !" in the introduction, it says "Official statistics suggest the problem is small, the police tell us that the real picture is more worrying. Data supplied by the Forensic Science Service gives some support for this." To translate from HomeOffice-ese "There's little or no evidence of a problem, although someone in the police is worried in case there might be a problem, but even then there isn't much supporting evidence from the Forensic Science Service." If you have interest in de-acts, you might want to visit the website and respond.
Pride and Sorrow
We are both proud and sad to announce that we are at our membership limit, and will no longer
be able to accept new full members. MoD RANGE COSTS INCREASE(27/1/09) We have been informed that there will be a 5% increase in the cost of hiring MoD ranges from March 2009.This will take effect from the 1st April 2010. This Notice was posted on the NRA website, and gives details of the increased charges. Ministry of Defence Ranges - the Certification System.(07/01/09) We have had quite a number of people contacting us worried about the MoD/NRA "Safe Shooting System" and the certification system.We appreciate that the information from the NRA at Civilian use of MoD ranges, and Certification is very complex and confusing, but I'm afraid that's what we have to deal with. If you read through the information carefully, you'll be able to work out who requires what sort of certification, and the processess to obtain it. One thing is absolute - you will NOT be able to shoot on MoD ranges if you do not have a certificate for the type of firearm you'll be using, unless you are supervised on a one-to-one basis. We've tried to put together a simple guide - see our "Interesting" page under the heading "MoD ranges - things you'll need to know" - bearing in mind this was written for one specific range and club - but it may be of some help to you. "NOTES FROM THE SECRETARY GENERAL"(23/12/08) If you can get a copy of the latest NRA Journal it's well worth reading Glynn Alger's - "Notes from the Secretary General" Here are some selective extracts which may interest you -"The National Rifle Association was created to promote Marksmanship in the United Kingdom and overseas." "As such, there was an implicit intention to own ranges nationwide. The NRA never achieved the ambition to host events around the country nor did it make provision to create a national range structure." "Over time, either because of circumstance or finance, the NRA has failed to meet those original objectives. Instead the National Rifle Association has chosen largely to focus on Bisley and, as a result in more cynical circles is known as the 'Bisley Rifle Club.'" "Membership is limited by our focus on Bisley, our failure to invest in regional ranges and truly to represent fullbore rifle shooters." "It has to be said that, if we remain where we are, it is likely that the NRA will return to being a failing organisation, the 'Bisley Rifle Club.' "However,if the NRA does the right things at this point in time, there are great possibilities for target shooting. Those opportunities only exist if we are willing to work closely with other target shooting bodies to create an inclusive and representative sport." These are brave words, brave admissions, and whilst these are selective quotations from the article, I believe they represent an honest and forthright statement of facts. The whole article is here , and I'd recommend you read it to get the full flavour. We should support such brave initiatives - I'm sure these statements will not have made friends amongst the reactionaries who believe that Bisley and "TR" are at the centre of the universe - I believe Glynn (and hopefully the rest of the NRA) is absolutely on the right track - and I don't say that lightly. | |
"A PHOENIX RISES"(18/11/08)
The November/December edition of the BASC magazine "Shooting & Conservation" has a three-page article headed "A Phoenix Rises"
featuring the Geoffrey Place Range (GPR), Mostyn House School, and of course Phoenix Shooters Association. The conversion of the air raid shelter into the Geoffrey Place Range is largely due to the hard work of Phoenix members who gave their time, energy, expertise, money and support to this project. We have to thank the Friends of Mostyn House for their support and financial help, and most importantly, the keen support of Suzi Grenfell, the headmistress of Mostyn House School.
You can read the three page article here - Page one -
Page two and
Page three.
NEW SHOOTING ASSOCIATION(24/9/08)
A new Shooting Association has been formed by ex-members of the Sportsman's Association of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland (SAGBNI). Air raid shelter - or shooting range? (28/2/08) On Wednesday, 27th February 2008 the Geoffrey Place Range at Mostyn House School had its formal opening. This is the first shooting range to open in the Wirral area for well over fifty years - and it's been built by PSA in partnership with the school. The range has been constructed in the school air-raid shelter which had been used as an indoor sporting facility for some time, but that came to an end due to poor lighting and seepage, leaving it as a store full of rotting equipment and rubbish for many years. 
We have tried to retain and renovate some of the artefacts found when we cleared the shelter, such as signs, lighting accessories and a pump, and we've decorated it in the original style and colours, which we hope this will give some idea of the way the shelter must have looked when it was first built. Our estimate was that it would take between three and four years to clear and prepare the shelter, and to build the range and clubroom but due to the incredible support, hard work and expertise of the members, we opened in less than two years after the start of work, which was in May 2006.  |
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