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National Small-bore Rifle Association Notes from meeting of Shooting Council on 17 th November 2007 These are notes supplied by Brian Woodall, Acting NSRA Secretary. Mick Gault Mick Gault continues to gather awards recognising his successes. In October he was crowned Sports Personality of the Year at the inaugural Norfolk Sports Awards and received his award from Dame Kelly Holmes. Following on from this award, in November he was invited to the BBC Regional Sports Awards for the Eastern Region where he received a Lifetime Achievement Award. In a nice touch the presentation was made by Karen Pickering, the former English swimmer from whom he took the record for the most Commonwealth Games medals. National Rifle Meeting The number of competitors entered for the August Rifle Meeting was down by one to 962 but the number of competition entries dropped from 10705 in 2006 to 10143. The most notable event at the Meeting was Michelle Smith's victory in the Earl Roberts Championship. In 2006 Michelle finished as runner-up to Keith Ridgway, the latest of a number of women to have taken second place over the last 20 years but in 2007, after 84 years of the competition, she became the first woman to lift the cup. It has to be recorded that this was no skin-of-the-teeth job. 1989 was the first year in which the current design of targets was used. Over the 19 years only one person has equalled Michelle's score of 786 ex 800, and only three have beaten it, David Phelps (787 in 2001), John Oliphant (788 in 1993) and Malcolm Cooper (790 in 1989). The winning margin of five points on the current targets is also an exceptional achievement. Neil Braisher had the same winning margin over Mike Babb in 1996 (779 to 774). The only bigger margin was Malcolm Cooper's incredible final of 1989 when he overwhelmed everyone. Pistol Meeting The Pistol Meeting was moved from its traditional time of August Bank Holiday to the middle of September. This brought comments from some that elite shooters would be on their annual break during this period - however four of the eight pistol shooters in the World Class Performance Pathway Programme took part. The entry did go down slightly, but the programme is still operating at close to range capacity in a number of areas because of the wide range of courses of fire on offer. Postal International Match Results Results are now known for the 2007 Postal International Matches promoted by the Association. The Dewar was won for the fourth year running and the Wakefield was regained. In the Drew Match for the Junior Teams of Three, the Boys won their match and the Girls were fourth. The Junior Team of 10 went back to South Africa with GBR coming second. Of the matches organised by the NRA of America the USA regained the Randle which they last held in 2003. Due to changes in procedure for MOD safety checking of the Bisley Ranges the team were unable to take advantage of the usually calmer early morning conditions, as in previous years, and were forced to shoot in the afternoon when the weather was more challenging. The Mayleigh was won by the USA with GBR coming third. 1 Insurance There have been two improvements to the insurance/protection package offered as part of affiliation, namely the addition of equipment cover for shotguns and the increase of Civil Liability cover to £10 million. Roberts and Dewar Appointments In 2009 we will be celebrating the Centenary of the Dewar International Postal Match and welcoming the next visit of the NRA of America's team to contest the Roberts Match. The NRA's acceptance of our invitation has recently been received and the NSRA Rifle Committee has announced the appointments of Neil Gibbons as Team Captain with Phil Strong as Adjutant for the Roberts. Dick Hudson, the Dewar Adjutant for 2006 and 2007, has been confirmed as Dewar Captain for 2008 and 2009 with Phil Strong as Adjutant. 2012 Olvmpic Games In response to a Written Parliamentary Question in the House of Commons about practice in the UK for pistol events in 2012, the answer from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport appeared on 30 October and stated: Agreement has been reached in principle on the use of Ministry of Defence ranges by a small squad of elite pistol shooters. The HomeOffice is currently considering how best to take this forward. It will be for Scottish Ministers to decide what arrangements should apply in Scotland. Hansard, Col 1084W Commonwealth Games - 2014 Glasgow has been awarded the Games for 2014. It is understood that the number of shooting events is to be reduced and brought more into line with Olympic disciplines. Post meeting note – NSRA are fighting to keep events in the programme if possible. Fullbore rifle will stay, some women’s prone events in question. Chief Executive Adverts have been placed for the vacant post of NSRA Chief Executive in the national press and on the UK Sport and NSRA websites. The closing date for applications is 7th December. Note from Meeting – The NSRA confirmed that they have learnt lessons from previous situation and will not be appointing unless they are happy that they have the right person, even if it requires re-advertising etc. 2 Club and Association Affiliation The 2008 Affiliation papers have now been despatched to all clubs and associations. The Board of Management has sought to keep increases in fees for organisations and individuals as low as possible and after rounding to the nearest pound, actual increases vary between 0% and 2.2% for individuals and between 2.4% and 3.3% for organisations. All are therefore under the current level of inflation of about 4%. The rates are: Clubs 30 members or fewer £112 £115 £155 £360 £128 Over 30 members £150 County Associations £350 Cat. B, D & E organisations £125 Individuals Annual £68 £69 £39 £46 Junior and FTE £39 Associate £45 Regional Squads Tom Redhead will be starting a new Regional Pistol Squad based at Bisley to help bridge the gap between club and county shooters and the squads operated by British Shooting and the Home Countries. It is understood that the possibility of a pistol squad in North West England is being investigated by coaches in Lancashire. Implementation of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 The final parts of the VCR Act in relation to firearms came into force on 1 October 2007. Attached is a summary of the legislation that details only those changes that affect target shooting. There is also legislation relating to imitation firearms and realistic imitation firearms. The Firearms Act 1968, together with amendments, runs to 103 pages. Since the 1968 Act there have been at least 32 Acts of Parliament amending the original, some as diverse as the Energy Act 2004, together with 15 Statutory Instruments. In 2001 the Home Office issued a document entitled "Firearms Law Guidance to the Police" which comprises over 300 pages. It does not cover the six acts and four statutory instruments issued since that date. It is an extremely complicated subject. Should you have any queries please refer them to Geoff Doe. Committees Mike Wood head of the British Field Target Association has been invited to become a member of the NSRA Coaching Committee. These are further notes from discussions at the meeting. Linatex Geoff Doe currently looking at sample to buy a bulk quantity at good price to sell on to clubs in required quantities. 3 Olympics - Location of Shooting Events It appears the Olympic organisers have worked out how to fit the shooting events in at Woolwich (report due) and have “dug their heels in” regarding the location. NSRA through GBTSF still pushing for Bisley. National Classifications It was agreed last year that National Classifications would not be given until 2nd year of participation. This has proved not easy to administer due to difficulty identifying when people have shot and variations in weather on different days (when different classes are shooting, particularly in Scotland). Therefore it has been agreed to revert to the old system, ie submission of average if no National Classification. Scottish Meeting It was agreed to seek more views from Scottish representatives on the suggestion of holding the Scottish Meeting occasionally in the north of England due to difficulty in finding suitable ranges in Scotland. Alternatively, can Scottish clubs help find future ranges in Scotland? Bisley Meeting Car Parking NSRA to discuss with NRA improvements to the car parking arrangements for future Bisley Meetings. Bisley meeting is 9th August – 17th August 2008. Short Range Bench Rest Rifle NSRA seeking volunteer or organisation to run an NSRA recognised individual league for short- range benchrest rifle. British Airgun Championships Meeting Issue around Class D shooting on ground floor with paper targets rather than upstairs with electronic targets due to range space. Lots of discussion around the cost and time it takes to take up and put back down the hockey rink to make use of that space. Vote was almost unanimous to leave the arrangement as is and review next year. Coaching . Dave Froggett, has joined NSRA as Coaching and Development Manager. There is an article in Rifleman, (due out shortly with an apology for the delay from Brian Woodall, currently at the printers) giving info about revisions to NSRA coaching arrangements, ie Regional Coaches, County Coaches, Club Coaches, Club Instructors etc. Dave can be contacted on 01773 744201 or [email protected] regarding setting up coaching courses etc.