Shooting sport featured on the evening news programme of leading French broadcasters TF1 yesterday (December 20).
The three-minute segment on “Le 20h”, watched by an estimated audience of 5.5 million viewers, was headed: “Shooting ranges – why such a craze?”.
There were interviews with a selection of those engaged in the sport in a country preparing to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year – with shooting sport due to take place at the national range in Chateauroux.
The item opened with footage showing Nicolas, a sport shooter firing at targets from 25 metres with a 9mm pistol, for which he has had a licence for two years.
He talked about his “passion” for a “very interesting” sport.
“In terms of concentration, self-fulfillment, it’s a sport that is really very interesting psychologically,” he added.
Featured next was Gregory Brafin, a shooting instructor who works with beginners at a club in the French commune of Lingolsheim, in the Bas-Rhin region.
Brafin stressed the aspect of safety, and the report went on to say how all shooting sport athletes have to be systematically registered and verified within a national central information file.
Hugues Senger, a spokesman for the French Shooting Federation (FFTir) and President of the Ligue de Tir d’Alsace, stressed that all information is made available to the Minister of the Interior, and that anyone not registered is forbidden to own a gun.
The cameras show shooting taking place at the Lingolsheim club, which has 400 shooters, competition or leisure, with weapons of different calibres.
“The motivations are diverse, and women are more and more numerous,” the reporter noted.
Afterwards two of those taking part, Elodie and Guillaume, were interviewed about why they had taken up the sport.
Guillaume, a member of the Gendarmerie, said he finds the sport “very pleasing” and added that it improves his concentration.
Anyone wishing to own rifles or pistols – which are limited to 12 in total – must register them all with the local prefecture.
FFTir currently has 255,000 licence holders.
The link to the news piece is here: https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/jt-20h/videos/stands-de-tir-pourquoi-un-tel-engouement-86858226.html
Fuente: http://www.issf-sports.org
