Kollam: Shooting prodigies from Kollam who have bagged over 60 medals including gold at the state and national level competitions in just two years of their practice under the Kollam District Rifle Association are on a never ending wait for permission to start training in firearms. The Association renovated a shooting butt three years ago for the trainees to practice, for which the district administration has failed to give permission citing no reason.
The general body of the Association headed by district collector has also failed to convene for the past couple of years resulting in piling up of over 200 certificates to be distributed among the winners. “We have given an application at the collectorate for a firearms license in 2014 itself. The shooters could not compete without it. They have won several medals whose number could have double if we got the firearms license,” Kollam District Rifle Association secretary Saju S. Das told DC.
In the recent South zone competition among five states, shooters from Kollam marked a new national record, winning nine golds. The associations were formed on a government order of 1968 to constitute the second line of defence during the Chinese aggression. The ‘civilian rifle training scheme’ has associations at district level throughout the state with district collector as president and the police commissioner as the vice-president. The state president is an inspector general of police.
The reports of police and tahsildar favoured awarding them firearms license, but the district administration deferred it on flimsy reasons, Mr Das alleged. The association has set up an air-conditioned automated shooting range in a rented building at Vallattil Arcade, Nellimukku, here. A butt wall has been constructed near the Fatima College Ground in 2013 and has turned out to be of no use to the shooters without the firearms license.
