Weapons such as rifles, shotguns and handguns are constantly coming under negative public discretion these days in this so called free world of ours. Inheritably, my lifestyle has been adjusted to accept, handle, care for and responsibly utilize firearms. Unfortunately, many Canadians living in heavily populated areas have no such inherited traits. On the contrary they are raised with impressions of firearms that are giving to them through television. What a great way to promote the "realism" of firearms than through a new "slaughter" movie, eh?
Everytime someone whose "riding with two wheels in the dirt" like Mark Lepin decides to grab a gun and do some grievous bodily harm inside a Montreal University, those same mis-informed people sitting in front of their television Toronto condos are mentally reaffirmed that guns have no place in todays modernized computer society.
Don't get me wrong here. A maniac with a gun is as dangerous as greenhorn grunt backing you up inside a free burner. My point is that if Mr Psycho wants to do away with a whole lot of people in a quick hurry and he can't get his mindless fingers on a gun, is he suddenly going to accept realism and never do harm to innocent people? Come on people, give your head a shake! The old saying "There's more than one way to...".
As it goes, Mr and Mrs Suburbia are winning small victories in the Canadian legislature. Soon, many firearms will be illegal for sale or trade in Canada and higher restrictions will be imposed on the people who attempt to purchase guns legally. The later doesn't bother me much except for the fact that the only people that will be inconvenienced will be the law abiding gun owner...again.
For example, an FAC (Firearms Acquisition Certificate) that normally costs $10 will probably boost to $50 in order to cover the costs inherited by the issuers having to go deeper into your personal life files. Debate this issue pro or con if you want but the bottom line is that if I were wanting to acquire a firearm in order to blow someones life away I wouldn't consider going through the "legal" channels to do so.
Just as food for thought let it be known that I am a law abiding citizen and a responsible gun owner but within a few hours I can lay my hands on virtually any hand held weapon known to this world.....and I haven't even been looking to!!! The opportunity is just there and I'm not talking about the simple semi-automatic light calibre guns that will shortly be banned in Canada!
It seems quite ironic to me at times that while the communist world is falling apart and those people our grabbing every freedom possible we "free" folks find it necessary to implement more and more controls in our countries. Think about it.
You don't have to be a hunter or sportsman to enjoy shotgun sports. Shotgun sports are simply games that are played with shotguns. Although the last statement may seem a bit foreboding if you are not a gun enthusiast, shotgun sports are played under strict rules, controls and safety is the number one concern of organizers.
The most popular shotgun sport is TRAP SHOOTING. The object of this game is to shoot and break a small clay disk (clay target, clay bird, clay pigeon) that is thrown from a trap house. The traphouse is stationary and lies at least 16 yards in front of the shooter. Shooters are placed five at a time behind the traphouse at stations. Stations are merely varying positions that lie the required 16 yards behind and up to 30 degrees to the right and left of the trap house. Each shooter is given 5 shots at each station. Shooters total 25 shots and hits and misses are recorded. Your score will appear as 17 out of 25 or whatever.
Variations on standard TRAP SHOOTING could include handicap shoots where better shooters find themselves shooting from a distance of 22 yards rather than 16, or a game of doubles where two clay birds are released at the same time from the trap house and shooters are allowed two shots instead of one. With all TRAP games the stations are all behind the traphouse.
SKEET SHOOTING may at first appear similar to trap. Claybirds are once again used. This time the five stations are between four trap houses. There is a low and high house to you left and a low and high house to your right. You are allowed five shots at each station position. The birds are released highhouse left, lowhouse right, low left, high right, high left then the shooter moves to the next station and the sequence is repeated.
Many variations of the Skeet shoot is possible. Some ranges may have only one traphouse with two or only one clay bird thrower. Skeet may seem similar to trap but to the shooter it is an entirely different game as the targets are moving at different angles to and away from you. Some shooters say that skeet is easier while others maintain trap is where to start.
No special shotgun is needed. Many of the people I have known who shoot sports use the same gun in the field and on the range. Serious shooters opt for special barrels with wider shot patterns for their gun or even special guns themselves.
I like the sports in order to better my shooting skills in the field. I like both above sports. I started with trap and have shot some skeet since. Generally, I find that trap shooting advances my upland game bird skills, while skeet makes me a better wingshot on waterfowl. Of course playing both is how to find your shooting weaknesses and you can build on that!
