On July 18, the Disciplina practical shooting school will hold its first pistol match at the Bear shooting range. We asked its founder Dmytro Romanyuk about the competition, participants and development of shooting sports in Kryvyi Rih, a city of metallurgists and miners.
Dmytro, your shooting training services are already in great demand not only in Kryvyi Rih, but also abroad. What inspired you to hold the competition and what is your goal?
D.R.: This practical shooting match aimed at popularizing the culture of handling weapons is an attempt to bring shooting sports back to our city. Because until recently in our city shooting ranges, for example, in Medved, competitions were held regularly. But then, apparently, bad times came, someone became uninterested, someone did not want to take everything into their own hands. We talked with Vedmedya’s administration and decided to hold such an event. We make every effort to ensure that the competitions are not only comfortable for the participants and bright for the spectators, but also comply with all the rules and regulations of the International Confederation of Practical Shooting.
The match is accredited by the International Shooting Confederation. What does this mean for participants and viewers?
D.R.: First of all, this is an application for a fairly high level of competition. The I-level match involves the participation of accredited members, candidates for membership of the ICPS or members of shooting sports clubs. Most of the registered participants are members of the confederation. That is, these are actively practicing shooters who previously successfully passed the introductory seminar: they passed the theoretical and practical parts, after which their candidacies were approved by the Directorate of the MKPS.
What is the portrait of the participant of the match?
D.R.: The portrait of the participant is absolutely diverse. There are also directors of enterprises, there are simply middle-class people, among whom there are many women.
By the way, the cadets of the Donetsk Law Institute asked me to write an official letter to the rector inviting them to the match. This is one of their main tools of work – to be able to use short-barreled firearms.
I see that every day people are not just interested in weapons, but the desire to learn how to handle them. As an instructor, this fact cannot help but please me. But it continues to upset that learning to shoot in Ukraine, where there is no law on weapons, is still very expensive. In order to shoot a short-barreled rifle, you need to come to the shooting range, and if you do not have your own weapon (and most of our citizens simply cannot have one – because there is no law that would give them the right to have one), you must pay for gun rental, cost of ammunition, cost of referral for shooting. And so, for many of our compatriots, the “space” economy of this occupation is being formed. And if there was a corresponding law, the shooter could purchase a weapon for a long time and buy ammunition for it at a fairly cheap price, because the country would have its own cartridge factory. And the economy of his shooting would consist only of renting the use of the shooting range and the services of an instructor, if necessary.
How much should you come to shoot today?
D. R.: Let’s take our region. An hour of shooting with a pistol costs about UAH 800: from UAH 150-250/hour – renting one pistol, about UAH 450. – the cost of ammunition (based on 30-40 cartridges at 14 hryvnias per piece), plus the track. But there is another point here. It’s one thing if a person wants to come for a fan shoot or just to take his soul away. And if the shooter wants to learn something step by step, planned, deeply; then he needs an instructor. The cost of an instructor today is 300-400 UAH/hour. Basic mastery of a weapon under the guidance of an instructor requires 2-3 weeks of regular classes. It turns out a large amount, which can be afforded to be laid out in a couple of weeks or well-off people or those who have a financial cushion. Unfortunately, so far.
Are you a supporter of the legalization of firearms in Ukraine? What do you think: Will allowing our citizens to carry guns lead to an increase in crime and murder?
D.R.: Shooting is a culture. You know how to eat well, drive a car well: correctly, safely. Look, when a society is healthy in all respects, it is not necessary to expect any double standards from it. Of course, there are exceptions, but these are only rare cases.
We take our neighbors – Moldova. It is strange and ridiculous to compare Ukraine and Moldova – in terms of population, economic indicators, standard of living, etc. But there is a gun law. And are they full of articles with the headlines “Offenses committed with rifled short-barreled weapons”? I have been to Moldova many times and I have not felt any tension related to the permission for the citizens of this country to carry weapons.
If we talk about our country, two points should be taken into account. On the one hand, as a citizen, I have the right to protect life and property, where a weapon is a tool for realizing this right. I am ready to pass the relevant authorities, medical commissions, courses, obtain the necessary permits and, on the basis of this, obtain a short-barreled rifled firearm. In this situation, it is comparable to obtaining a driver’s license. The driver is also a potential criminal in quotes, and the car belongs to the category of dangerous for injury and death. But, on the other hand, making firearms available to the general population now, given the already unfavorable criminogenic situation in our country, will be a wrong and dangerous decision.
Today, I see permission to carry weapons for members of professional or sports organizations as a step on the way to full legalization of weapons. This would allow first to develop shooting as a culture. For example, it would be good if members of shooting sports federations had the right to buy weapons, and athletes could perform with their pistols. After all, knowing your weapon makes it easier to compete. And when you come to a competition and rent a weapon, you don’t know what it is or what condition it is in. You may have shot from such a form factor, but still, each gun has its own soul, its own characteristics, and when it’s yours, it’s yours.
Currently, certain categories of the population for the purpose of self-defense are allowed to carry a traumatic gun. Your opinion: is the effective use of this type of weapon?
D.R.: For lack of anything better, at least something warms the soul. This is about a trauma gun. Yes, it is a pistol in terms of form factor, but it still shoots rubber balls with an energy of 50 J. But a weapon is, first of all, a demonstration of power. Sometimes it is enough to show it or to show it for a moment, so that some kind of confrontation ends somewhere, unnecessary questions stop being asked, and the conversation or actions do not enter the stage of assault. Most often, several shots up or under the legs, even from a traumatic gun, have a stopping effect. Another thing is that having a weapon, one must be able to use it. I am on your side in this matter, I know how to use it correctly: how to inflict a minimum of injuries and at the same time my actions would be effective with this traumatic pistol. And a person who does not know how to act in a stressful situation is unknown.
Is the upcoming match a one-time event or are there already more serious plans?
D.R.: If everything goes well, we plan to hold such matches once a month in the future. Let’s try to make matches with a traumatic gun. Maybe we’ll hold a gun. Let’s see – after the first match, organizational points will be clear: whether the location is good, whether the participants are properly trained… There is experience, there is a math base. Why not?
For a year and a half, I have been trying very hard to popularize and promote the shooting topic from different angles: whether it is a civilian topic or training for personal protection groups. I really want our local police, rapid response teams of security structures, paramilitary forces – everyone whose work is related to weapons to pay attention to this. I want the use of weapons to be professional, competent, and beautiful.