Promoting target-shooting sport

The Arms Armour and Militaria Society (AAMS), would like to congratulate the Maltese medal winners as well as express its satisfaction with the highly successful GSSE Games held in Malta

Praise is certainly due to the Malta Olympic Committee (MOC), the sporting organisations and especially the athletes themselves. One must obviously not overlook the clear commitment to such events and sport in general from the part of the authorities. The strong support from Sports Minister Jesmond Mugliett is an encouragement for all and sundry to do more and better for Maltese sport.

On a different note, the AAMS would like to make some important observations. The AAMS has been the most active organisation in Malta in lobbying hard for the necessary changes that would finally allow the practice of pistol and rifle target shooting sports in Malta. In fact, through the Gun Owners' Lobby (GOL), the AAMS has worked with the authorities for the necessary legislation changes that are now imminent.

While it has been admirable to promote the "elite" sports, one should never neglect the more popular disciplines in each sports category nor forget that sport is a noble pursuit that brings together people from all walks of life. There is much to sport beyond medal winning and highly rated international competitions, however prestigious they may be.

Thus the AAMS is actively preparing itself to be the protagonist in the field of pistol/rifle shooting sports that do not feature in Olympic events but are hugely popular abroad. To this end, the AAMS has already submitted an application for official recognition with the Malta Sports Council. Our organisation also intends to embark on a project for the establishment of a pistol/rifle range in Malta that would eventually be a great asset even for sports tourism.

We certainly look forward to all the assistance we can get from the authorities. There is no reason to doubt a positive response, given the clear commitment to sport from the present administration.

Finally, one must laud the MOC's proposals regarding the promotion of those disciplines not included in the Olympic or GSSE programme. Such initiatives would have our full support for the sake of a much wider promotion of sport in Malta.

Mr Azzopardi is the secretary of AAMS