August 2008 President message
With the Olympic Games just around the corner, it is important to acknowledge and understand the importance of introducing youngsters of legal shooting age to the shooting sports. The SSAA is the seeding ground for cultivating Australia’s shooting champions of tomorrow, today. With that in mind, you can understand SSAA National’s campaign to introduce and sponsor young people into our sport.
Not all, of course, support us in our drive to introduce youth. At the time of writing, the National Coalition for Gun Control, the loose association of anti-gunners, has reacted in ‘outrage’ at New South Wales’ recent steps to rectify restrictive legislation that makes it near impossible for youngsters to learn the craft of shooting, particularly handgun shooting. “Teaching a child to shoot, is teaching a child to kill!” they cry. The reality could not be further from the truth. What better sport than shooting, which demands concentration, patience and discipline, is there to keep our young on the straight and narrow and steer them away from drugs, alcohol and violence?
This again is why we call on you, the membership of the SSAA, to sponsor a junior and ensure the future of our sport.
I am happy to announce that since the inception of our ‘Sign up a Junior’ campaign more than a year ago, the SSAA’s junior membership has grown by 32 per cent. This is a fantastic start. In the past year, we have also seen profiles and stories on the many and varied achievements of our young competitive shooters. Some of them are club, state and even national champions.
Speaking of champions, I would like to personally congratulate NRA Action Match shooter Tom Whitehead from Victoria, who won the Top Revolver for the second time at this year’s Bianchi Cup in Missouri, USA.
The Bianchi Cup is a perfect example of marksmanship with semi-automatic handguns and revolvers and I find it absolutely ridiculous that the anti-gun lobby would claim that the prestigious international event, like sports shooting overall, is encouraging young people to become anything other than excellent sportsmen and women.
Bob Green
SSAA National President
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