A sporting shot: Century-old rifle club changes rules, aims to catch 'em young

KOLKATA: The Ichapur Rifle Club, which marked a grand old milestone - the 100th year of its existence - a few days back, is changing its century-old rules, eyes on fresh targets: children.
Until now, membership of the club was open only for employees and family of members of the Rifle Factory Ishapore (RFI). The club wants to throw its doors open to kids, primarily so that they could use its shooting ranges for rifle and other gun sport.The club authorities hope the decision to open its ready infrastructure for rifle practice would foster a brand new crop of shooters.

The rifle club, situated outside the factory premises but on defence land, was set up in 1923. It flagged off its centenary celebrations on October 30. The club was initially called 'Boat Club' by the British officials, and was used mainly for boating and shooting. The idea was to offer recreational facilities. Later on, the club was re-organised by the management of RFI for the promotion of shooting as a sport and to facilitate the employees and their families. The club is registered with the West Bengal Rifle Association (WBRA).
The centenary celebrations started on October 30, with some neighbouring schools participating. They included St Augustine's Day School Shyamnagar, Morning Bells Academy, East Point School, two Kendriya Vidyalayas and nearly 200 students, along with principals and sports teachers. "Ten students from Class X were sent to the programme and I must say this is a great initiative taken by the management to encourage youngsters to understand and explore shooting," said Rev Rodney Borneo, principal, St Augustine's Day School, Shyamnagar.
Olympian shooter Jaydip Karmakar graced the occasion, where other dignitaries were present. "Our motto is to promote shooting as a sport and we do not have a commercial purpose," said Nirendra Kishore Sarkar, joint secretary, Ichapur Rifle Club administrative council.
Authorities at the Ichapur Rifle Club said that the club had well maintained infrastructure in place. “We also have experienced experts. The place was restricted to staff and their family members but now we have changed the laws,” said Kishore Sarkar, joint secretary, Ichapur Rifle Club administrative council.
This shooting range had been lying defunct for two years because of Covid and resultant restrictions, and would be renovated shortly, said club sources. As of now, the club has air pistols and .177mm air rifles. A new model of .22mm rifles will arrive soon. Since the place is a restricted area, club members will have to follow certain norms.
Their past records, especially criminal ones, would be checked and new members would have to follow some restrictions before entering the club. “We are hoping we would be able to open it to non-staff members, especially children, in a fortnight,” Sarkar said.