Rifle club fires back after statement by Dunkley

To hear Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety, The Hon. Michael Dunkley, JP, MP state that his Ministry is conducting a full review of the Firearms Act 1973 along with the promise of consultation with the two local shooting clubs, is a most welcome change indeed”, said David Dumont, President of the CRRPC, “Our Club and Bermuda’s shooting sports national governing body, the Bermuda Target Shooting Association, have been lobbying successive administrations for redress since the Act’s inception some forty years ago.”

“We did meet once with The Hon. Michael Dunkley, JP, MP and the Secretary of Public Safety on the 18th of April, 2013 and indicated that, in our opinion, one as stakeholders and practitioners of sport shooting in Bermuda for over fifty years, that the then proposed amendments to the Firearms Act 1973 would do little for local sportsmen/women and would in fact hinder us.”

“Currently, there exist a number of prohibited firearms that are licensed via a 60 day temporary license and are renewed for an additional 2 months, every 2 months. This is thru Section 5, Subsection 2 of the Act which remains. Club members, since 2011 have applied for and been refused, this same temporary license valid for a period not exceeding 60 days to prepare for the Island Games, CAC Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympics and no less than 12 international competitions that occur every calendar year.  As of today, 1st July, 2013 there are no air rifles/pistols in Bermuda owned by CRRPC members as all attempts to obtain permission to acquire or license them have been denied.”

Minister Dunkley chose to end his statement yesterday with, “The Commissioner of Police has assured me that our local shooters will be given permits in time to practice and participate in the Island Games.” Unfortunately for local shooters he might only be half right, as to be a credible competitor it takes far longer than the mere 13 days now allotted to us for practice.

“As Bermudians first and competitive shooters second, we are acutely aware of the current climate and the task that Minister Dunkley has been charged with, however it bears repeating that from March, 1963 until October, 2011, we were able to practice our sport and not cause injury to ourselves or a member of the public at large and are confident that with continued consultation and compromise we will be able to do so again in the future.”