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Police, civilians brace for Easter shooting competition


United by their passion for firearms, civilian gun owners and their counterparts in the discipline forces will this weekend go head to head.

The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) African Championships is set to go down in Kiambu County this Easter weekend at the National Gun Owners Association shooting range in Kirigiti.

“We have been travelling internationally participating in the sport for the last 6 years but we are now hosting this competition here thanks to Government support,” said Chairman of the NGAO Kenya Defensive Pistol Federation Martin Chengo.

“Our association consists of both civilian gun owners and members of the discipline forces.”

Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such as handguns, rifles and shotguns.

Among the faces that welcomed this great fete in the country is Nairobi Area based Inspector Adan Mohammed who reveals that the sport has bridged the gap between civilians and the police killing many stereotypes about the gun.

He revealed that IDPA was started in 2012 by civilians who saw the need to train and enjoy the sport together thus forming the association. Since then they have done a lot of local and International matches together,” he said.

“I was one of the first uniformed police to arrive at Deuce it during the terrorist attack in 2019. When I got on ground I found a lot of familiar faces, from our shooting club. Civilians are always first on sight during an incident so if we train more of them to safely handle guns our country will be safer.”

The championships kicked off at high note on April 4, 2023 with the Chief & Safety Officer’s shooting.

Wednesday, April 6 and Thursday April 7, involved the Safety Officer’s Shooting while Friday has been set as the rest day and set up for Shabaha Hustler village which has been sponsored by Ministry of Youth Affairs, The Arts & Sports.

The event will climax on Saturday and Sunday April 8 and 9 with all other shooters participating. This year the International tournament will attract over 250 shooters from 13 countries.

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