Clay Target Q&A
With Russell Mark, Olympic gold and silver medallist
Questions: russell@corporateshootingstars.com.au
Q Do you think the Clay Target shooting sports are in jeopardy here in Australia? I keep hearing about a decline in numbers, but what worries me is that I have also heard of the same trend in the United States. I understand they are facing continued pressure by various anti-shooting groups in regards to noise, steel shot, etc. If they are in trouble in the US, then I would have concerns about us here in the future.
Barry Hawkes
A Barry, it is a never-ending battle to fight the anti-gun movement no matter what country you live in. Here in Australia, we have given up many of our firearms and rights of ownership over the past couple of decades without proof that we have a safer society to live in. This is despite what some of the radical minority groups and some of our politicians (from both sides of politics) would have you believe.
In my opinion, the entire gun buy-back process and the now Draconian firearms legislation that was introduced, particularly in New South Wales, has been a total waste of time at an enormous financial cost. The unfortunate scenario in NSW is that because the legislation is so restrictive, it is very hard to get someone to come along to their local shooting range and try the sport for the first time. If it’s not the club’s one and only annual open day for the year then they have to go and get a temporary permit, which can often take a month to get and is only valid for three months. If that is not a major barrier to entry for our sport then I don’t know what is.
I am curious where you are getting your information in regard to Clay Target shooting struggling in the US, because I actually don’t think that is the case. I will quote some statistics compiled by the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) in the US in the mid-1990s in conjunction with the National Rifle Association and the University of Dayton in Ohio:
• In 1996, the following was true and correct in regard to the membership of the ATA: 90 per cent of its membership were male; the average age was 51; 76 per cent were married; 87 per cent owned their own home; 69 per cent had a household income of more than $50,000; 58 per cent fish; 60 per cent hunt; 15 per cent were aged between 15 and 24; 26 per cent were retired; 15 years was the average membership and on average, each one of their members owns nine shotguns.
• In 1996, 7.7 million shooters participated in target shooting, of which 3.7 million shot clay targets in Trap and Skeet.
• In 2006, the ATA had just fewer than 35,000 members and threw 79 million competition targets within their 940 affiliated clubs.
The only piece of research that I could find to support your claim, Barry, was that in 1998, 54,208 ATA members participated in one or more of the 6275 registered tournaments contested throughout North America. In total, 82,480,480 registered clay targets were thrown by more than 1200 gun clubs. I would point out that the decline may be due to the fact that Sporting Clays has really started to take off in the US and the shooters have diversified, but not left the Clay Target sports. Remember, the ATA only handles American Trap (DTL) events. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the actual figures from the governing body of Sporting Clays in the US to prove this.
This is important data to have. I doubt if we have anywhere near as much data about our membership here in Australia, which makes it hard to compare countries. However, my point with these statistics is that they actually know what their membership consists of, so I guess that is the first step towards understanding how to combat a decline and target an increase.
Despite all these statistics, I cannot prove to you that Clay Target shooting is going backwards in the US. I will concede that legislation like what is in place in NSW does hinder the sport’s growth here in Australia. One thing is absolutely clear in my mind though: whether you shoot with a shotgun, rifle or pistol and it does not matter whether your target is paper, clay, metal or legal game - we must draw a very deep and concise line in the sand right now in regard to gun ownership and usage.