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FCP Notice re: Firearms Act roll out

Following advice from the Attorney General that Statutory Instruments giving effect to the firearms act amendments must apply to full sections of the Act and not to part sections, it is now the case that some of the planned roll out of the new firearms code will be delayed at least until the enactment of the Firearms Miscellaneous Bill which is due for publication on July 3^rd under the Programme for Government. As a result, the intended classification of restricted firearms will not now be applied on May 1^st 2008 as planned.

Saturday, 17 May 2008

NTSA eMailshot Feb 2007

Written by Mark Dennehy

Wednesday, 31 January 2007

NTSA eMailshot Feb 07

NTSA Monthly Mailshot

February 1, 2007

Hello all.

A lot of people have requested more communications from the committee to the membership of the NTSA. For that reason, we've created this mailshot, to be sent by email on the first of every month. Eventually, we hope to have it as an automated process run from the website, that you could sign up to easily, but it was more important (I felt) to get it out there than to get all the technical possibilities explored. So if you'll bear with me, I'll be sending this by hand via the ntsa-announce email list for the first issue or three while I sort out the technical side of things with the website.

As always, if you have any queries or suggestions, I want to hear them. Please send them by email to:

Secretary@targetshootingireland.org

Yours in Sport,

Mark Dennehy
Secretary, NTSA

Last Month:

Last committee meeting (Jan 11)

Please remember folks, the date of the next committee meeting is always up on the website, and the agenda for that meeting is up three days before it convenes.

Membership 2007

Membership forms will soon be on their way out to every member of the NTSA. For 2007 members are requested to fill out their own membership forms and have their clubs endorse them. Membership for 2007 is set at €20 (€50 for clubs). Membership is due at the end of January and runs to January of the next year. Renewal of membership after the 31^st of March will be subject to a late process fee of €10. New memberships will be accepted throughout the year however membership received within 5 working days of the Annual General Meeting may not be processed in sufficient time to permit attendance. Applications will not be processed with out the appropriate fee. All Cheques should be made payable to the ‘National Target Shooting Association.’ All applications should be returned to the Treasurer.

Carding Grants

Four NTSA shooters are being put forward for carding grants this year. Also, we will be looking to review the carding grant criteria in order to draft fairer, more helpful criteria, since the current ones are both unrealistic and self-contradictory. It should be noted that all NTSA Open match scores count towards the carding grant criteria.

ViceChairman

Kealan Symes of Rathdrum Rifle and Pistol Club has been nominated and appointed as the ViceChairman of the NTSA.

Calendar Changes

Some additional dates were added to the calendar. We realise that it has not stabilised as much as we would have hoped for, but we are committed to keeping it as stable as we can and to push as much notice of any changes to the membership through all available means.

ISSF WC Munich

It was decided that the NTSA would not send a team to this years ISSF World Cup in Munich, focussing its resources instead on the European Airgun Championships and the European Smallbore Championships which will have lower associated costs and the same degree of competitive class.

10m Air Rifle Training Day w/Geoff Cooney Jan 13/14

The first session in a basic competition air rifle shooting course for beginning and improving target shooters was held in UCD over the weekend of the 13^th and 14^th of January. The course was well attended, with 14 shooters from DURC, UCD and WTSC in taking part. The course was conducted on both days by Geoff Cooney. The course consisted of a series of theoretical sessions interspersed with practical demonstrations. While the day’s activities were planned, the course was conducted in an informal manner, with plenty of interaction.

The course introduced the participants to basic concepts surrounding the building of a stable standing position. Having established the fundamentals of the position, attention was devoted to the mechanics of shot release, the need for planning and evaluation was stressed, and a number of important training concepts and definitions were introduced and explained.

The course was a fairly comprehensive introduction to the sport of air rifle target shooting and it is planned to have two further days devoted to bringing on this group further with emphasis on shot planning and match planning being looked at in some more detail.

This was the first time such a course was run and as with all things new changes may need to be made to the overall delivery of the course. A number of areas were identified as ones which may need attention. Running such an intensive course over two consecutive days may not be a good idea, as it was felt that the group was tired by the second day. And that in future a single day focusing on a single topic would be more suitable. Also having just one instructor for such an extended time is hard both on the instructor and on the group. On this course there was a lot of theory so a better mix of theory and practical session may be better. In general this was a very good first attempt, and from this start good things will develop. I would hope too, that those who were on this course would contact either Mark or Geoff, with their views, comments and suggestions.

WTSC 10m Airgun Open Jan 20/21

Competition 1 (Championships)
	Shooter	Club	10-shot series						Total
1	Stapleton Richard	Wilkinstown	95	95	93	95	90	93	561
2	Lyons Emma	UCDRC	93	93	88	96	93	96	559
3	O'Hagan Elizabeth	Wilkinstown	88	90	96	93	95	94	556
4	McFadden Sean	Wilkinstown	94	91	95	95	85	92	552
5	O'Hagan Jim	Wilkinstown	89	91	90	95	89	94	548
6	Flynn Shane	Wilkinstown	88	90	95	91	90	94	548
7	Smith Kevin	Wilkinstown	95	89	91	84	92	89	540
8	Raval Raj	UCDRC	82	88	87	89	86	90	522
9	Cunningham Laura	Wilkinstown	76	76	66	76	76	69	439
10	Carstens Marius	Wilkinstown	63	56	47	46	60	53	325

Competition 2 (Mens Air Rifle)
	Shooter	Club	10-shot series						Total
1	Stapleton Richard	Wilkinstown	95	95	93	95	90	93	561
2	McFadden Sean	Wilkinstown	94	91	95	95	85	92	552
3	Flynn Shane	Wilkinstown	88	90	95	91	90	94	548
4	O'Hagan Jim	Wilkinstown	89	91	90	95	89	94	548
5	Raval Raj	UCDRC	82	88	87	89	86	90	522
6	Smith Kevin	Wilkinstown	95	89	91	84	92	89	540
7	Carstens Marius	Wilkinstown	63	56	47	46	60	53	325

Competition 3 (Ladies Air Rifle)
	Shooter	Club	10-shot series				Total
1	Cunningham Susan	Wilkinstown	98	94	96	96	384
2	Cunningham Paula	Wilkinstown	94	93	97	92	376
3	Lyons Emma	UCD Rifle Club	93	93	88	96	370
4	Gaffney Ciara	UCD Rifle Club	93	94	91	92	370
5	O'Hagan Elizabeth	Wilkinstown	88	90	96	93	367
6	Cunningham Laura	Wilkinstown	76	76	66	76	294

Competition 4 (Junior Air Rifle)
	Shooter	Club	10-shot series				Total
1	Cunningham Susan	Wilkinstown	98	94	96	96	384
2	Cunningham Paula	Wilkinstown	94	93	97	92	376
3	McFadden Sean	Wilkinstown	94	91	95	95	375
4	O'Hagan Elizabeth	Wilkinstown	88	90	96	93	367
5	O'Hagan Jim	Wilkinstown	89	91	90	95	365
6	Flynn Shane	Wilkinstown	88	90	95	91	364
7	Cunningham Laura	Wilkinstown	76	76	66	76	294
8	Carstens Marius	Wilkinstown	63	56	47	46	212

Competition 5 (Air Pistol)
	Shooter	Club	10-shot series						Total
1	Raval Raj	UCD Rifle Club	84	94	95	89	81	85	528
2	Skelly Thomas	Wilkinstown	83	85	87	81	85	81	502
3	Dennehy Mark	Wilkinstown	78	75	84	82	70	85	474
4	Oughton Ewan	Wilkinstown	77	77	71	85	84	76	470
5	Corballis Chris	UCD Rifle Club	66	77	82	79	86	77	467
6	Stapleton Dick	Wilkinstown	68	77	75	82	78	64	444
7	Stapleton Dick (2)	Wilkinstown	80	72	78	71	63	69	433

2007 started with the first airgun match being hosted by Wilkinstown. Numbers taking part were somewhat low and some of the scores were on the predictable side for those that didn’t train over Christmas. Nevertheless, the event was well run, with Jimmy covering the R/O duties and Mark covering the Stats end.

Wilkinstown has been experimenting with a format change to the match, which sees an individual men’s match being introduced along with the individual women’s match. This is the second time that Wilkinstown has tried to run the match this way, but its effectiveness and its popularity with the shooters is hard to measure in part by the fact that numbers taking part in the match are low. As in all things, comment, ideas and suggestions are always welcome and are always sought. So please let us know your views.

The results of the match are posted above, and on the various web sites. I am delighted to welcome Marius Carstens and Laura Cunningham to the ranks of our junior shooters and we wish them well.

The development of Ladies air rifle shooting is continuing to improve with Susan, Paula, Emma, Ciara and Elizabeth now battling for position. Both Susan and Paula recorded Minimum Qualification scores at this match and the other ladies are hot on their heels.

Men’s air rifle has stagnated somewhat of late. Richard Stapleton won the men’s match with a score below his potential. College and School work is taking its toll on some of our other frontline male and female shooters. Still it is fair to say that men’s air rifle shooting, at both senior and junior level, needs an injection of pace to boost up performances. So come on you guys get the proverbial finger out and get your ass in gear and get those scores up.

In Air pistol Raj, Mark, Thomas, Dick and Ewan are all moving to stake their claim on the top rung for this sport in Ireland. At present Raj is in pole position. But everything is still to play for. I am looking forward to seeing some keenly contested matches among this group. It is leaked from reliable sources that Nicola is using deep visualising training methods to improve her performance.

Overall this was an enjoyable match, even with sub standard scores. Come on people, more to do!

WTSC/NTSA Training Seminar Jan 27

A seminar was held on the Saturday of this weekend in the National Aquatic Centre in Abbotstown to bring those interested in International-level competition face to face with what it takes to make it at that level. NTSA Chair Liam Crawford opened the morning's session with some brief words on the state of target shooting in Ireland at present and the behind-the-scenes work on changing the support mechanisms in place for the shooters. he then introduced Paralympic runner Tony Ward, who gave a frank talk with those present on the realities of dedicated training, from the 0530 wake-up calls on cold dark winter mornings to get training time before work or school, to the sacrifices made in social and work lives in order to get the time needed to train for competition properly.

A questions and answers session led into informal chatting with Tony on a one-to-one basis over lunch, and then after a short pause for digestion, a talk was given by NAC physical fitness instructor Kieran Keogh on the physiological demands of target shooting and how best to train to accomodate them. A practical session followed, which gave some a cause for mirth as Geoff and Mark joined in as best they could, and following a demonstration of how to enhance core strength, flexibility, balance and how to approach a fitness plan on an overall level, Kieran gave a walking demonstration of typical modern gym equipment and answered a lot of questions from the shooters.

The overall feel for the course was that it had been very worthwhile, and had addressed several areas in physical training that were not well covered prior to now. This will lead to improvements - especially since a return session with Kieran has been arranged for about six weeks from now to assess progress and make further training plans!

NTSA 10m Airgun Open Jan 28

AR60
Shooter	Club	Class	10 shot series						Total	Placing
Lyons Emma	UCDRC	A	94	93	90	92	89	97	555	1,A1
Baldwin Sean	Army	B	89	93	93	93	95	90	553	2,B1
Stapelton Richard	WTSC	A	92	95	91	89	96	89	552	3,A2
O'Donohoe Joe	Army	B	88	93	88	93	93	93	548	B2
O'Hagan Jim	WTSC	B	93	88	89	88	91	93	542	B3
Nash Iain	DURC	B	85	95	91	86	85	92	534
Fleming Daniel	WTSC	B	88	89	89	89	91	84	530
Dunne Mike	DURC	C	83	90	87	85	86	89	520	C1
McGrath Paul	DURC	B	83	88	85	87	90	87	520
Baconin Thomas	UCDRC	D	78	77	84	79	84	77	479	D1
Kane Ray	Army	A	96	94	93	93	95	0	471	DNF
Cunningham Laura	WTSC	D	62	73	69	63	73	64	404	D2
Dunne Laura	DURC	D	68	73	57	67	64	70	399	D3

AR40
Shooter	Club	Class	10 shot series				Total	Placing
Cunningham Susan	WTSC	A	96	91	97	97	381	1,A1
O'Hagan Elizabeth	WTSC	A	90	94	91	87	362	2,A2
Cunningham Paula	WTSC	A	89	91	86	85	351	3,A3
Gaffney Ciara	UCDRC	A	91	91	92	60	334	DNF
Lawlor Catriona	DURC	D	63	65	66	65	259	D1
Bourke Jean	DURC	D	61	49	36	63	209	D2

AP60
Shooter	Club		10 shot series						Total	Placing
Oughton Ewan	WTSC		89	93	88	90	84	84	528	1
Raval Rajkumar	UCDRC		86	84	84	88	94	87	523	2

The second day of the NTSA / Wilkinstown Training seminar consisted of an air rifle match in UCD. There were two details and while 25 shooters had notified me about attending some of them were unable to attend, but this still resulted in two full details.

In this match I wished to tighten up competition protocols and this was achieved by the following methods; Preparation and Start times were posted (second detail was delayed a bit for practical factors); the Range Officers for each detail were also identified and their presence was highly visible without being intrusive; Protest times were announced and access to the stats office was restricted. A request from shooters that noise levels at the end of details be reduced was also acted on. I am delighted to say that all the above measures were successfully implemented with the full cooperation of the shooters and spectators.

Mike Dunne, who recently participated at our Range officer course, earned his stripes and very successfully R/O’ed his first detail. Well done Mike! Mark and Chris ran the Stats office. Pat O’Hagan issued targets and sorted out fees.

Thanks are extended to UCD for allowing the use of their range and the introduction of new target changing equipment is great. Thanks to Chris and Ciara for checking the equipment the night before.

It is great to see new college shooters taking their places on the firing lines and we wish them all well. The absent college shooters from the lines are a worry and hopefully we can get a greater number of participants in the forthcoming matches. It is good to see also the PDF team back competing.

On a more general note, the National Championships in Air Rifle and Air Pistol are coming up soon. An R/O course has been run; with another one this weekend, the purpose is to train up a team of R/O’s, on which the NTSA can call to officiate at these matches. Background work is also being commenced on training up people for the stats office. And in the near future training in equipment control will also commence. My goal is to have a fully trained and functioning background team in place for the airgun nationals this year, because I want this year’s Nationals to be the best we have ever run. Now if the background people are breaking their backs to get ready for the Nationals, then what about the shooters? Are you busting your bits to win Class D, Class C, Class B, and Class A?

Press coverage

Women in Sport Calendar

Every year, Women in Sport produces a calendar. This year, they held a competition for those who wanted to be in it:

From the Women in Sport website:

Inspirational Moments, Photo Competition
How would you like your photo and written article featured in next year's 2007 Women in Sport Calendar?
We are inviting you to submit a "Women in Sport" photograph that inspires you and an explanation of your reasons why, in less than 150 words. We will be selecting and featuring the 12 most inspiring photos and article to feature in next year's calendar.
It could be a photo from thewww.womeninsport.ie website or one that you have taken yourself of a particular activity. The closing date for entries is 31st October 2006.
So Wilkinstown Target Shooting Club entered, and were chosen. Congratulations! Here's the winning entry. Not bad at all.

Title: Sisters doing it for themselves...

Description: Paula and Susan Cunningham shooting during the British Air Rifle Championships in 2006. Susan is the current Irish National Champion in Olympic Air Rifle and Paula is chomping at her heels, with Paula holding the Bronze medal from the National Championships.

Why it's inspiring: The Cunninghams are not just good junior shooters or just good lady shooters; they are the best shooters in Ireland, without qualification. Susan is both the Senior and the Junior Irish National Champion in Olympic Air Rifle. The girls are an inspiration to the entire sport, senior and junior alike, and their success has prompted widespread fundamental change in how the sport is organised in this country. Their dedication to training has set new standards for the sport in Ireland. Their prowess in the sport is without precedent, and they have gone further than any Irish shooter before them. In 2006 they represented Ireland in the World Championships, while Susan was studying to take ten honours in her Junior Cert. They are currently our best hopes for the Olympic Games in both Bejing in 2008 and London in 2012, and represent the very best our sport has to offer.
Copies of the calendar can be obtained free of charge from the Women In Sport website, www.womeninsport.ie

This Month:

Upcoming Committee Meeting Agenda

The next committee meeting is actually tomorrow, Febuary 2^nd. The agenda has been up on the web since Monday in keeping with the policy to publish the agenda three days before committee meetings. In fact, we've been able to post the agenda on the website as it comes together, giving far more notice of upcoming decisions. We've changed the format for the agenda this month, however, from a simple list to a more focussed format. It's available for download from the website. You'll need to be able to read pdf files to read it, but these days, every computer can. A quick scan of the upcoming topics includes:

European Airgun Championships Air Rifle

Will the NTSA send a team to the Europeans?
How will this be organised and announced?
When and where will we run equipment control for the athletes?

World University Games Collegiate Officer Report
Motion : "That the NTSA appoint a strategic sub group to review the functioning of the various offices of the Committee, as it appears that there are certain areas which overlap, and there are other areas which appear not to be accountable to any individual officer”.
Motion:

NTSA Monthly Mailshot

Last Month:

Last committee meeting (Jan 11)

Membership 2007

Carding Grants

ViceChairman

Calendar Changes

ISSF WC Munich