July-August 2010 - New Zealand Clay Target Association

By Vic HarkerThose of us who have ownedguns and have shot all our livescan tend to forget how alien thisis to most of the population. Inour increasingly urban cultureguns are now only seen bymany people as the lethal toolsof criminals and terrorists.It’s not surprising then when socialisingor working with people outside your usualcircle of friends, to mention that yourfavourite sport is shooting can representsomething of a conversational bombshell.How much more so if, like me,you have spent most of yourlife working in the firearmsindustry. With experience,of which I have had a lot, Ihave become prepared fordisapproval and can usuallymake a case, which, while itmight not change the anti’smind, he may at least consideranother perspective.In the case of guns andshooters, most people aredon’t knows, and if youexplain simply what shootingis about and why you do it,their response may surpriseyou. The other mythology attachedto shooting, apart from it being onlythe province of criminals is the grousemoor image. Many people believe thatshooting is inaccessible and only forthe very rich. This objection is one whichis much easier to deal with. Certainlyshooting in most forms is not cheap but isaffordable for lots of people. For the veryyoung and those still in education, unlessthey are funded by their parents, cost isan issue, but for the more established it isless so. The firearms industry has alwaysunderstood, based on studies of thedemographics of shooting, that the middleaged with some disposable income aretheir main customers. A lot of people fallinto that category and as a CPSA membervery likely you are one of them, and so weare meeting potential shooters all the time,but we don’t make the most of it.If you have been shooting clay targetsfor a while you will know yourself the kindof person, man or woman, who is likelyto enjoy it. Once a sportsman always asportsman, and friends coming to the end oftheir useful life as club footballers, cricketersor rugby players are prime candidates.They will be naturally competitive andused to the rough camaraderie of theclubhouse, as well as getting up and havinga go.Shooters however come in all shapes,sizes and disposition. Competitive shootingis not a team game and so also there is roomfor the quieter introspective type.The firearms industryhas always understoodthat the middle aged withdisposable income aretheir main customers32gunshot