Should shooters be open about the sport.

cosieman

Should shooters be open about their participation in the sport it seems like the shooting sport is treated like a underground sport sometimes compared to GAA or rugby. On the one hand we need to get more people into the sport to keep it alive on the other hand many of the public think you are going to go postal just because you own a spring air rifle and a increased risk of bulgarly if it is known you have firearms such as George Digweed in the uk a compition clay pigeon shooter. Should shooters be more open about the sport and perhaps even make youtube channells similar English Shooting to encourage the sport?

Grizzly 45

Absolutely. There is nothing to be ashamed of about being a gunowner or sports shooter or hunter.Its high time we came out of the closet so to speak on this issue. As we are Garda vetted to the extreme, have surrendered our medical privacy, and the sanctity of our homes to spot checks by AGS for the security of said firearms, in fact we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard of law-abiding as any of the following can get our licenses revoked or firearms removed from us. Being an alcoholic,a drug addict, misusing either, having mental problems including depression or PTSD,too many traffic or speeding tickets also is taken into consideration.

Worse now it seems having the wrong political ideals or supporting the "extreme right-wing" as there have been rumours so far of Superintendents interviewing new applicants and renewals about their social media profiles. Needing to be a member of a range in certain circumstances to own certain types of guns, and have public liability insurance.[You don't need that to fly or own a private aircraft in Ireland] and 3rd party permission to hunt or shoot on someone's land to practise our Lifestyle,as this with regulation has gone far beyond a mere hobby, In short…Can anyone name any other "hobby" that is so microscopically examined by the govt and the law and LE in Ireland? So Mrs./Mr anti-gun owner/hoplopophobe this is the standard I have to hold myself to in society…What do I know about you living next to me?

tonysopprano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122200262#Comment_122200262

Agreed, BUT when the vast number of gun owners/sports shooters/ hunters, on this forum refuse to stand up for themselves, or even go out of their way to allow the PTB walk all over them, by not holding the PTB to the laws and regulations of the land, then we are on a hiding to nothing.

Death by a thousand cuts, comes from where they cut you AND you cut yourself even more, by cutting yourself to let them cut you, even more. Self inflicted.

Instead of being called sheep, you are called frogs (sitting in the water, singing and chirping and whatever frogs do, while it boils and eventually kills you)

Say goodbye to firearms in Ireland.

garrettod

Yes - be open, and talk about the positives of your sporting interest...

• We're Garda approved licence holders, so held in high regard.
• We take a lot of safety measures, participate in training, have insurance etc. so spell this out.
• Highlight how different things are in Ireland, to the USA.
• Bring friends to try the likes of clay pigeon shooting, where facilities allow.
• Press Sporting Ireland to support shooting sports.

J.R.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122200588#Comment_122200588

I would add to that:

what we contribute to the economy that is not pumped back into our sport

the benefits of conservation measures practiced by hunters

the benefits of vermin control measures practiced by hunters

the benefits of crop protection measures practiced by hunters

3ric_is_3ric

you should definitely tell people,most people i tell that shoot targets ,deer ,are more curious about it then anything. only a select few have acted strange about it to me.

lmk123

It can be hard at times to be open about it. I find you have to gauge the audience before saying anything. I often get a reaction of sheer amazement when I mention that I have guns & hunt etc. and usually “what the f**k do you need guns for”. I also think that in a few years hunting / vermin control will be a thing of the past, the amount of people my age that have guns / any interest in even getting a gun is very low. It’s funny also the amount of farmers I hear giving out about crows eating meal and sickening calves with their faeces, they’ll spend money on vets and absolutely anything on the market to frighten the crows (and have asked me to shoot them) but won’t dream of spending a few hundred on a shotgun themselves. I just think a lot of people have a negative view towards gun ownership for some reason.

minktrapper

Who is going to control mink in the future. Very few young people fishing for trout. The country will be overrun with vermin. Paying landowners to put in crops to feed the birds for the winter and no one controlling vermin. Makes no sense.

Grizzly 45

I just think a lot of people have a negative view towards gun ownership for some reason.

Where is the average person,and seemingly many politicians and LE getting their gun information from? MSM and Hollywoo.

So of course they are going to believe such stuff as all the movie tropes we have seen and laugh at as gun owners and at politicans describing features they want banned when they describe "The thing that goes up! in the back of the gun" Or hang on every doddering word of a senile American president[with Irish roots of course] on the topic. Yet are seemingly ambivalent that our native Irish narco gangs have more serious firepower than our police forces and that we as ligit gun owners could only dream of owning here, than the average criminal gang in the USA walking about on our streets.

Our job as gun owners is to educate and demonstrate that a lot of what people have learned is both mis and disinformation on the topic and try and individually recruit at least two new people to the community every year. Any gun owner should be able to rattle off ten facts why you own a gun /hunt/target shoot by heart and sound convincing. Same as be able to dismiss at least ten anti-arguments with verifiable facts. Takes a little bit of homework on all our parts,but thats the price you have to pay if you want to continue owning a gun these days.

john_aero

Owning one or many fire arms is a bit like have a motorcycle.

Unless people understand the sport some will assume your a lunatic (maybe not that excessive but get my drift.)

Most people know I hunt and shoot probably don't realise most have more than 1 gun. This is where i see most get surprised, I try explain its like any tool, there is no such thing a a do it all tool. Need few different hammers, saws or in name of GAA different size balls for different aspects of the sport. Only time this argument fails is when I need buy another motorcycle…..

Most locals know people have guns but I would say they would be shocked if found out how many were in their locality.

When they alse get some some sample of game they all become more open to it. A few wouldn't be in favour of it and that's ok too, ill happily accept their views and they mine.

teediddlyeye

I'm usually quite open about it myself without going into too much detail.

As said already, usually met with shock, "i thought they were all banned", "how did you get xyz?" etc.

I'm open because it's the best way IMO for it click with some what we all want to hear, legal firearms aren't the problem.

And yes it's very like having a motorbike.

Heckler

I'd be cagey enough from a security point of view. Sure family and some friends know I shoot. Amazing the amount of people here who think guns are illegal. Wouldn't be putting club stickers or anything like that on my car in case the wrong person saw it. Absolutely we should all be proud of the safest sport in the country but sadly some hear gun but equate with "weapon" and all they know is US-centric gun violence.

Many years ago I had someone professionally helping me out on a CV. When it came to what I liked to do was straight told don't put down target shooting amongst your hobbies. Put down going to the cinema and reading. Shame but thats how it is.

If you don't shoot or know someone who does its difficult to understand the attraction and easier to dismiss or even demonise it.

MakersMark

A friend if mine used to give me stick for deer hunting, until a deer knocked him off his mountain bike!

I am in no way embarrassed by my like of shooting and hunting.

garrettod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122320308#Comment_122320308

I like venison, I like hunting, and I like seeing deer... Now that I've learnt that they are anti-cyclist, I like them even more 😂

judestynes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058353783/should-shooters-be-open-about-the-sport

Wow, if only there was a you tube channel for Irish shooters and Irish shooting, oh wait , there is

https://www.youtube.com/%40Irishshootingchannel/videos

SVI40

Proud to be a shooter, and am open about my passion.

I've brought many people, including some anti gun (took lots of persuasion) shooting and every last one of them enjoyed it, and in the case of the anti's changed their opinion of us. They were astounded at the level of safety we adhere to, and not one of them felt threatened or unsafe while on the range.