The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) kicks off a shooting tournament in Mombasa pitting participants from the African Intercontinental championship with those from other parts of the world.
Speaking with the media in Mombasa Sammy Onyango Chairman National Gun Owners Association said that IDPA is a shooting discipline all over the world with this year’s championship set to be a land marking event, featuring 14 stages with a minimum round count of 245 and attracting over 200 participants from across the globe.
Onyango said for the first time the event will be open to the public starting from February 19th for safety officers shoot and February 22nd for handgun and Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) shoot, providing a unique opportunity for spectators and media to witness world-class shooting sportsmanship.
“Kenyans are lucky because the event does not only capture shooting of African countries but it is a tournament that is held with the title of Africa with invitees from all over the world,” he said.
He noted that in the African championship there are eight divisions competing in the tournament which includes; the revolver division, the bug which is a back-up division, Compact Carry Pistol (CCP), the Enhance service pistol, Stock Service Pistol, Pistol Caliber Carbine, Carry Optics, among others.
Onyango said that every division competes amongst itself hence no overall winner in the competition.
He added it is because the divisions have got different makes of firearms with different capacities whereas some hold seven bullets only while others are holding up to 30 bullets.
He said the competition has been held previously in South Africa adding that Kenya celebrates the opportunity to have the experience as they are expecting more than 30 shooters from Russian and from USA, among others international countries.
“We have got top African women competitors who will be shooting in the competition and pistol champions from Kenya who will also participate this Saturday,” he said.
He noted that they have started with a pre-match involving safety officers, with the use of live ammunition in the tournament thus the need for them to be trained to ensure that the controls and parameters where the event is happening is safe beyond as there is no room for errors.
He added that the 43 safety officers who are internationally trained will be shooting on Wednesday and Thursday and the other shooters on Friday and Saturday.
Onyango said shooting is a sport that can elevate youths and the club aims to demystify the fact that the participants in history are from the elite group in the society.
“We need to make the public understand that if youths want to engage in shooting sports there are avenues that they can be promoted like the Bamburi Rifle Club. The law allows us to come to a shooting range as long as one is accompanied by a licensed firearm holder and the intention is for sporting purposes within a controlled environment,” he said.
He added that in IDP shooting disciplines there are levels which include level 1 which anybody can shoot, level 2 which is a club shot for people gaining experience up to level 4 which is the highest and level 5 as international world shoot.
He said newcomers are shooting for only level 1 and 2 accompanied by safety officers who are controlling the environment.
Onyango said this is the first competition held in the country this year and they are opening up to the public then later on they expect to travel across the world for the shooting experience.
He said some of the safety officers are police officers who are eager to participate in the sport as a way to release stress in their area of expertise.
Vice chairman of the Bamburi Rifle club Mohammed Ramadhan said that they are excited to hold the sport, attributing it to a rich history of promoting safe and responsible gun ownership and handling by the club.
He added that they have maintained an impeccable safety record following over 55 years of operations, thanks to safety measures enforced by a dedicated team.
“We are looking forward to having a very good game, we have several master shooters and sharp shooters and this will improve our game,” he said.
He added that the game is a boost to local tourism as 200 shooters are coming into the country.
By Chari Suche and Fatma Said
