I don't know about the rest of you but I'm itching to start shooting again. It would be good if the governments (federal and various state) could give us a definitive timeline so we can all start planning. It isn't quite clear but seems as we won't be able to hold matches until they introduce the 3rd stage of easing restrictions which will allow gathering of up to 100 people. And that is expected in July. It seems as it will all be at the whim of the Premiers.
The Voice of Australia's Benchrest Shooters
With around mid July the likely time we could resume shooting should open way for matches
To be possibly from late August onwards
I can’t see why some interim dates can’t be considered to give folks something to potentially plan for.
My advice is contact your state delicates and let them know what the general shooting community is hoping for .
Hi Everyone
i have been talking with the SSAA this week and at present they are waiting for further government announcements just like all the rest of us.
At present we are not allowed anymore than ten people on the range at any one time, so its going to be very hard to run any competition with these restrictions in place.
I would urge you all to talk to your delegates in the next two weeks and I will try my best to have a online meeting by the end of the month. Hopefully, I will get some clear advice for you all after the meeting.
I am as keen as all of you to get back to shooting but unfortunately, we are controlled by the current lock-down restrictions. I hope that everyone does the right thing and complies so we do not have major outbreak after lifting the restrictions.
Continue with to be patient and I suspect we will be back shooting by the end of the year. Unfortunately I am not sure if the government will open borders for interstate competition. Let's hope they do.
I hope everyone makes it through this COVID-19 year safely and we will be all able to look at the waling walls again soon.
Be good,
Will Greer
the various governments aren't keen to give any guidance on future lifting of restrictions; first up, there is a very good chance that the restrictions may have to be reintroduced if there is a large outbreak or secondary wave of infections. So then they would be accused of stuffing everyone about.
Secondly, and more importantly people, on the whole, are dumb. A person may be smart but people as a group are dumb. If the governments start to telegraph lifting of restrictions, people will start to drop their guard and tail off on their vigilance and their adherence to the safety principles. We are then back to point one.
We all want to get out and do the things we are missing (including in my case going to the range and missing :) ) but patience and vigilance is the key.
Yes it makes it hard to plan things but the situation is still very fluid and can result in things suddenly getting worse.
I agree with being cautious and that’s the issue we as comp shooters need to consider.
If the government allow larger gatherings in a couple of months how are we going present our case to SSAA and inevitably the government?
The first thing they will ask us is how do you propose we can hold a comp and keep shooters safe
We need to have a draft of measures that we can implement to present to these governing bodies showing how we can hold competitions at various ranges with proper protocols in place.
I am sure as i stated before SSAA won’t have a resumption of ANY competitive shooting on there agenda.
They will surely put in the too hard basket and focus solely on getting ranges open for the general shooting fraternity.
As Will stated he has had contact with SSAA regarding reopening and as expected and wisely so they are awaiting government advice .
We need to be seen as being proactive in the effort to continue with competitive shooting
In this new COVID 19 environment
We have to remember folks , a large number of shooters are in that vulnerable bracket and we need to make it safe for them to shoot .
With all our guns in the safe maybe it’s a good opportunity to come up with some ideas to help our delegates put together a case .
I simply couldn't agree more.
In SA we are endeavoring to get Monarto Range open again for shooting. As the land is owned by the Office of Recreation and Sport we have to get a clearance from them before anything can happen. There are a multitude of things that have to be complied with and we are working through it.
As far as actual shooting goes, we are restricted to ten persons per range - 9 shooters and one RO. As for spacing, it is a case of a spare bench between two shooters all the way along. In the smaller States that is OK as there are only about that many benchresters down here anyway.
Hopefully in July the number may be increased to 20 persons allowable.
When’s enough enough .
4/5 cases in NSW a day and we still aren’t shooting centre fire bench rest.
It’s obvious COVID is here to stay.
So do we keep our heads in the sand and wait 2 years for a cure or do we set up a way to get shooting again.
How about we make masks compulsory at shoots and keep sensible social distancing.
I have been working on a building for 3 months now with 100 workers from all over Sydney. There is 1 small lunchroom and 2,toilets
Social distancing at all times is impossible and is rarely achievable.
No cases no sickness. Time for hysteria to settle down a bit and come up with a sollution