Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteMoss
How does this impact sports shooting at all? Are there handgun or assault rifle shooting sports?
(genuine question - I don't know)
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I've been avoiding this thread like the plague for a few days, and probably for good reason.
I'll do my best to answer your questions.
Yep, lots of people are completely unaware that hundreds of thousands of Canadians participate in handgun and multi-gun sports safely every day throughout the country. It's the safest sport in the country, with hundreds of thousands of rounds discharged towards paper or steel targets without incident.
Here are just a few off-the-top of my head disciplines with handguns:
IPSC - International Practical Shooting Confederation
- It's an action-packed run and gun style sport, shooting an "obstacle course" style stage, timed, and can be very physically and mentally demanding. Complete it as fast as you can, as accurately as you can. Your score is your hits on each target area (scrored as A, B, C, hits) divided by your time. The motto is DVC (Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas (DVC) meaning accuracy, power, and speed)
- This is the largest handgun sport in Canada and the world. Canadians compete internationally and do quite well.
- This sport was granted IOC Olympic "observer" status recently, and will most likely be a demonstration sport in the next few cycles
- It's the national sport of the Philippines, for context
USPSA - United States Practical Shooting Association
- Basically the U.S. version of IPSC, but they have to have their own thing
- The rules are more or less the same, with some small variance
Steel Challenge - Speed Shooting, 8 set stages, shoot them from mostly stationary positions and no movement (except for 1 stage), and do them as quickly as possible.
IDPA - Defensive style shooting, borne out of the U.S., but there are lots and lots of international competitors.
Here are just a few disciplines with modern sporting rifles (semi-autos):
- Service Rifle (typically for military/ex-military and law enforcement)
- 3 Gun / Multigun (pistol, carbine/sporting rifle, shotgun) all in stages designed to make you move, transition, and hit as many targets as possible
All of these sports are either instantly dead, or will die a slow death as people won't be able to replace broken equipment, or as they retire from the sport.
Basically at the participation rates, it's like all of the sudden you banned adult rec soccer or hockey something similar.
2.2 Million actively licensed firearms owners, and millions more firearms, yet none of us commit any crimes. Why? Because we're literally checked every single day.
This government enjoys the ignorance of the everyday Canadian as it pertains to firearms. That's OK, they'll come for your "thing", whatever it is that you enjoy doing, next.