Rama: Side by side

THERE were two shooting matches held simultaneously yesterday.

Kamagong Gun Club, located inside the AFP Central Command Headquarters, held a well-attended International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) match for the tactical shooting aficionados.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Talisay City, the Talisay Aqua City Gun Club held a Philippine Practical Shooting Association-sanctioned International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) match.

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I know some people frown on holding two shooting events on the same day because this tends to divide the shooters.

But, then again, the shooting community has grown so much over the years and shooters tend to stick to their events.

Thus, for as long as the events aren’t of the same format—say two gun clubs each hold an IPSC event on the same day—it doesn’t actually matter much.

The growth of IDPA here in Cebu has been phenomenal. So much so that some people are organizing another shooter’s orientation seminar at Kamagong on the 17th. I hope nothing stops the momentum.

And the IPSC shooting community, like the older brother that it is, has been supportive of IDPA’s growth.

In fact, years ago, years before the wheels of the current IDPA bandwagon began turning, back to a time when only Kamagong Gun Club was holding tactical matches all by its lonesome, a lot of IPSC shooters came and shot tactical.

They left their competition rigs and space-age guns at home and came with ordinary, everyday-carry firearms, holsters and concealment clothing—some with silly-looking vests left over from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Like everybody else, they shot especially prepared stages without the benefit of a walkthrough, hid behind cover before engaging the targets, and topped off their guns when needed without dropping their magazines to the ground.

I remember that one of the first champions was Noogie Biagan, shooting for Casey Gun Club which, in turn, is one of the best places to train in IPSC. By the way, Noogie’s real name, I only came to know last week, is Ronaldo.

Over the next few months and up to the end of the year, if the government decides to postpone the barangays elections, more and more IDPA and IPSC-type shooting events will be held side-by-side here in Cebu.

These events will give every shooter the opportunity to try out each of the two disciplines and have the best of both worlds.

I had the opportunity to rub elbows with the top brass of the Philippine Practical Shooting Association (PPSA) here in Cebu and got a glimpse of things to come.

I know that there is now a proposal that asks the Philippine National Police (PNP) to exempt active Range Officers (ROs) from having to pay fees to transport firearms to match venues.

ROs officiate in IPSC matches for free and use their guns to calibrate their assigned stages.

And, like every other shooter, they have to pay to secure permits to transport their guns to the shooting venue.

It would indeed be nice if the PNP were to waive this fee.

There is also a call to hold a national Juniors’ Championship shooting competition here in Cebu. 

Organizers are waiting for the PPSA to stamp its seal of approval for the event and hope that the organization, which receives fees every time an IPSC match is held, can share in the efforts in organizing events.    

I hope they do. It doesn’t take rocket science to tell that junior shooters are the future.

Yeah, they have their own category in most sanctioned events.

They are like the undercards in boxing bouts Jingo Quijano loves to analyze and we all love to read about.

But I believe it’s time to put them in the limelight.

And having a match that features shooters like Kevin Cortes, Ariel and Martin Belarmino, Saldie and Sherwin Tan Un Kheng of Cebu, Kenneth Agustin, Blairwin Ortega, Luigi Castro, and Amiel Soriano of Manila, and everybody else qualified, will do just that.

(knrama@gmail.com)