Melanie sykes

[S.Deaville]

Well I am 26 and hope to shoot a round with Melanie very soon

 

[ips]

Ps

i bet you are the sort who tells all his work mates and blokes down the pub that you have a gun and i bet you get them out and show everyone in your back garden after a bbq. Well tell me i am wrong ?

 

[S.Deaville]

Is that aimed at me?

 

[ips]

No mate at Mr selby our posts crossed

 

[S.Deaville]

No probs my mistake.

 

[EdSolomons]

Personally I think anything like this is good exposure for the sport, and really cannot get my head round the view point that we should keep ourselves private and hope people leave us alone, because they won't.

If we get more members of the public interested in taking the spot up, then brilliant. We need them. Shooting in most forms is not spectator friendly, but it can be made so easily- I have seen it done in the states and we could run a similar format here. Tv means sponsorship, sponsorship means cash and opening the hobby (no its not a spot) up to the public.

On another note I don't feel the need for my pastime (now my job) to be secret, why should I? The more people that see its not a game for miserable old turds wearing tweed and talking about the weather the better I say.

 

[Nick Selby]

er...yes. From my 27yrs experience shooters me included do not tend to publicize the fact preferring to just get on with it. Public don't even know that some grounds exist therefore have nothing to moan about. You may choose to tell all in sundry that you shoot and have guns in the house but you will find that is not the general stance of us seasoned shooters or indeed the advice you would be given from your firearms officer. Why are you so keen on poking your head above the parapet surely you do not think that a few good looking minor celebs are going to change a deep rooted suspicion of all things gun related by our conservative public.. A degree of anonymity and discretion is the better part of valor IMO but i am old school and we are not interested in image we just love the sport and accept that its not for everyone and that its not a spectator sport and that a big majority of public would not wish up to possess guns so its better to be discreet.

Hope that clarifies for you.

I'm not saying we all need to broadcast that we own guns etc (but each of us who are on the Internet who have our details on this forum/FB etc could easily be accessed by whoever if they wanted to find out about if we had guns/shoot) but what I am trying to say is that some decent publicity showing shooting in a favourable light by a relatively famous person is a good thing. If it is not shown in a positive way then yes, the general public will continue to have their distorted perception of it.

 

[Nick Selby]

Ps

i bet you are the sort who tells all his work mates and blokes down the pub that you have a gun and i bet you get them out and show everyone in your back garden after a bbq. Well tell me i am wrong ?

oh how wrong you are....

 

[Kentskeet]

The point being missed here is that on the whole the general publics negative view towards guns in this day and age has been fuelled by dramatic media headlines, this country has an incredible heritage of gun manufacture and the correct use of guns weather it be related to game or clay shooting.

There is an opportunity here to show shotgun sports and shotguns in a positive way, I've shot all my life I have never felt the need to skulk about in anonymity as if my passtimes and interests are anything to be ashamed of, if I'd never mentioned shooting to many of my friends a lot of them wouldn't be in the sport today.

Shooting isn't a "closed shop" governed by the paranoia, it's a sport for all ages to enjoy, get involved in and a great skill to learn.

 

[Nick Selby]

Spot on

 

[ips]

Ed

nothing wrong with tweed

nick

ok my apologies if i am wrong.

Maybe i am totally wrong on all counts and if that is so then at least it has fuelled replies.

There you go that is diplomacy

 

[Nick Selby]

Ed

nothing wrong with tweed

nick

ok my apologies if i am wrong.

Maybe i am totally wrong on all counts and if that is so then at least it has fuelled replies.

There you go that is diplomacy

don't worry, Ian... I enjoy a lively debate. ;-)

 

[Darkside]

Gets boring listening to pish being talked round and round in circles...

 

[psych4shooting]

Driving back from the Beretta`s I filled up with fuel at Tesco`s Wincester. I had my Clay Shooting Success polo shirt on it with two big orange clays, lady next to me at the pump said "I would like to give it a go with my Son, where are you based? - I replied I wasnt local but Olympic Champion Richard Faulds has a ground just up the road called Owls Lodge they have great faclities and do lots for those starting - she took the details. I go into to pay and the guy behind the desk says "Clay shooting - that guy won a gold at the Olympics didn`t he? My grandad shot years ago he said, I have always wanted to give it a go - where could I try??"

I have no problem having a clay on my polo shirts or being seen in public, or even having them on my car - I get asked at least 5 or 6 times a week about clay shooting on the back of having my polo shirt on - even in the dentists. I am happy to promote the sport in anyway I can, no one has ever come up to me and said anything negative - we have profile right now after Peter Wilson`s Gold and why should we not be proud of our sport - it is a sport the same as tennis is, as golf is as cricket is.

I am not saying everyone go round with a clay on a polo shirt, but if people ask about your pastimes or see you have a badge or similar then be proud of your sport. We will never have the number of participants of some sports, but if a high profile person wants to promote us then we all have a duty to do the same - if we cant be proud about it and discuss it in a positive and professional way then what hope do we have..

 

[Michael]

The point is that MS is being slagged as a negative impact when in fact the SHOOTERS are failing to make the most of a prime opportunity to gain some POSITIVE public awareness.  The very thing happens here as well since the only goal of the organizations here is to keep their own paychecks coming and that only happens if there is a conflict to engage.

A local trap club just a couple weeks ago had a Ladies Day.  Had some women instructors for the newbies, some contests for the not newbies, lotsa prizes and what seemed like a couple hundred women blasting away at clay targets.  The club had some minor publicity before and had some internet notice at dedicated womens' sites, etc.  Got the word out.  But it never made the evening news cuz nobody called them.  We don't want to attract too much attention.

that's what I'm talkin about

I don't think there's much slagging off going on. The lady is probably an extremely nice person. She's perfectly entitled to go shooting & talk about it on the telly. But a lot of us don't see it making a major difference to the shooting scene. It ain't nowt to get excited about. You know the British were kinda reserved, not at all like you guys over the pond yeh. 

 

[RobertBeard]

There is more than one type of anti:-

old hard core town/city working class who have always seen it as a rich toffs sport associated with the privileged or upper classes - though dwindling in number now compared to the past

the anti gun brigade

the anti hunting and killing birds and animals lot

some civil servants and politicians who think that the public with guns are a threat to democracy/public order

The game shooting & hunting fraternity is full of very important and famous people who could promote the sport but they don't shout about it as they will draw the attention of the antis

Unfortunately there are just enough regular shooting disasters to keep us in the wrong limelight and for all those against the sport to then raise their profile looking for a ban.

I am extremely proud of my sport and have no qualms about doing it, promoting it, wearing polo shirts etc like Phil and promoting my email address as a place to contact for information about small-bore target shooting in Devon.

 

[RobertBeard]

A grumpy old git according to Mrs ips

miserable old turds wearing tweed

Ed nothing wrong with tweed

Ian - there seems to be a common thread developing here!  :lol: :.: :lol: :.: :lol: :.: :lol: :.:

 

[maddmatt]

To be fair there are and have been a load of celebrity shooters, Jeremy Clarkson, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Bernard Cribbins, me, Guy Richie to name a few. Yes some of them were game shooters only but the others have done clays.

I think in general the sport is terrible at promoting itself and we all could do our bit, Matt where's me shootclay polo shirt .

 

[ips]

I think Robert has a valid observation here regarding different types etc so maybe how you portray your shooting or not as the case maybe is dictated to a degree by the area and the type of local society you live ie city rural south north etc

just a thought.

 

[** Pending Removal **]

I have already said....I think the bra and kecks photo that Mel put on Twitter was brilliant.....very brave girl.....looked great.

I am sure that the Cpsa have taken the massive 'photo link up' opportunity to work with Mel.....just like they did with Pete after London 2012.

:wink: