Sports shooting used to be more popular and a skeet club in the Central Okanagan is having some success bringing more people into the sport.

The Central Okanagan Shotgun Sports Club is having a friendly competition from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Sunday, June 14, the Memorial Fun Shoot. The club itself is growing, in part thanks to events like this one, but the sport is having a hard time drawing in young people because of the cost and the politics.

The club is at 25 Joe Rich Main Forest Service Road has skeet shooting, trap or 5 stand, and it continues to expand the facilities.

Tyler Bishop is a member of the club and he said it’s a great community, but there’s a strong anti-gun political stance among young people that prevents them from seeing the sport as a fun hobby.

“It’s not flourishing as much as it may be used to, probably because I think there’s a pretty active anti-gun sentiment, which I don’t think is fair,” he said. “It’s also quite expensive, the shells, the shotgun itself, it can be quite expensive.”

Shooters need to have a gun license, a PAL, to shoot at the club. Memberships cost $200 and there are $100 day passes for non-members. The club is trying to attract new people, so for newcomers who want to try it out with their own gun and ammo there are $20 trial day passes.

John Scott is the club’s secretary and he said it’s a hobby like any other if you leave out the contentious politics.

“It’s like a bunch of guys going out golfing, except it’s different equipment,” Scott said. “You hear some grumbling about the politics behind it… it’s just having fun, people don’t really get too wrapped up in the politics of it.”

Vernon-Monashee opposition MP Scott Anderson is a vocal critic of Canada’s gun regulations. He said the shotgun sports club has mostly older members, but there’s a small group of younger generation shooters taking it up.

“I’d say the large percentage of our members are older. It’s just the way it is these days with the younger generation and family and everything like that. You’ve got to look after the family and it’s pretty expensive to raise a family these days,” Anderson said.

“It depends on the club you’re at, too, because I know down in Oliver they have a club there and they’re very successful in getting some young people out.”

Bishop said there are some younger members in the club in their 20s, and there can be some friendly generational competition.

“They’re competitive, and the older guys here, some of them are amazing, so it gets interesting, you know, some generational ribbing and stuff, it’s a lot of fun,” he said.

Events like the one this weekend are a good way for people who are interested in sport shooting to find out what the community is like.

“It was very easy and welcoming to break into,” Bishop said. “They pull out all the stops for those events, and roll up the red carpet with great food, and really interesting courses for sporting clays and stuff.”