And you thought shooting was high on the government’s priority

For those of you (shooting fans) who would have started to believe that shooting was high on the government’s priority list, here’s reason to feel down hearted.

Indian shooters are without bullets once again.

There have been no camps since the Olympics and none are in the pipeline. The authorities will probably start thing about camps and practise once the next games draw close.

The National Rifle Association of India has drawn up a detailed plan for the Commonwealth Games. But it is stretched for funds with nothing coming forth from the Sports Authority of India.

I wish we could have shot the men in charge of such matters. But there are no bullets to do that either.

Update (November 12, 2008): Shooters can finally smile as the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) exempted the .177 calibre lead pellets used in 10m air rifle event from import duty vide customs notification no. 120/2008 dated 4/11/2008. This has come as a great gift for Indian shooters after the historic Olympic gold won by Abhinav Bindra and the new air rifle world record set by Gagan Narang recently.