Have you taken a young person shooting lately?
- Are potential young shooters playing the "Shoot 'em-Up" games on their bedroom screens rather than bothering to go out in the cold?
Those computer games are great fun and addictive 'make believe' but the real world we all have to inhabit lies outside the door eh.
The shooting clubs and firearms organizations I am familiar with seem to be almost completely 'OLD MAN'S CLUBS' with grey beards and thinning hair everywhere (I'm 77). - I was just reading a NZ motorbike magazine that noted the same theme for Bikers .. their age group is maturing with not so many new players joining-in.
What's going on?
There are some common features between motorcycling & shooting .. both need a high skill level by the users - both might be judged as anti-social and noisy, - and can be classed as dangerous activities - but at their best are great fun and rewarding at the end of the day .. Maybe the rising costs and increasingly restrictive rules are taking effect.
Why not combine biking with shooting - just like the British Government did back in 1914 ..
I wonder are 'fishing', climbing, Scuba Diving, and other outdoor skills experiencing 'aging' too ?
My guess is that the shooting sports & groups will fade away under the weight of new laws and expensive regulations unless we fight-back politically - becoming a 'LOBBY', and make a big effort to start a new generation of hunters and shooters on their way.
The number of licensed NZ shooters is down to 238,000 from 245,000 .. apparently there are some 5,000 new licence applications outstanding and delayed by the police processing currently.
The NZ Labour Party reckons to have 14,000 members only.
The anti-gun propaganda is working to paint we gun owners into the same class as racist murderers, - violent Gang Members and drug pushers .. roaming the country shooting prize cows, stags and sheep at every opportunity - and passing guns to the criminals.
Fifty years ago - homosexuals were vilified and the police would set out to trap and prosecute them at every opportunity .. right now the non-binary "Rainbow Community" has gained a new image and is an important political lobby who's wishes - no government can afford to ignore.
Fifty years ago our Maori too were treated as second-class members of NZ Society - but no more.
The next scape-goat being blamed for all that is wrong in the world is you & I - shooters - WE are being pushed to the wall by the hard rocks being thrown at us by a howling mob ..
UNLESS WE START TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT SOON.
United we stand .. Divided we fall.
It's going to take energy - money - & brain power to sort-out this .. but here's a question to ponder - would I be as committed to the shooting skills & technology now IF I hadn't been taught about guns and shooting safely as a young teen in the school CADET CORPS in 1959?
Our current New Zealand shooting organizations seem to consider that DOING NOTHING is the best way to deal with the punitive suppression of lawful firearms ownership here.
Marty K.
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