– Part One

The Guyana National Rifle Association (Guyana NRA) will celebrate its 150th anniversary in October (9th -15th) this year with the hosting of the West Indies Fullbore Shooting Championships at the Timehri Rifle Ranges.

This is part one of a series on the history of the association as compiled by Ms. Margaret Smith from the commencement of shooting in the 19th Century to 1992.

Subsequently, the history of the remaining years was put together by Mahendra Persaud (Fullbore Captain), Ransford Goodluck and Ryan Sampson (Secretary of the Association) with the assistance of a few members of the Guyana NRA.

Part One Introduction Rifle shooting as a competitive sport is not new to Guyana. It dates back to the early 1790’s and was formalised in 1865 with the establishment of the Demerara Rifle Club. The latter became the British Guiana Rifle Association and today is known as the Guyana National Rifle Association.

The Demerara Rifle Club was formed by a Regiment of British Soldiers stationed in the then British Guiana, and was coordinated by the succession of British Troops stationed in British Guiana thereafter.

From the formation of the Rifle Club to Independence, the organisation responsible for the running of the club varied, namely: British Garrison (1878), British Guiana Militia Volunteer Force (1891), British Guiana Volunteer Force and the Guyana Defence Force (1966).

Membership, categorised under individual and block members was open to all Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and men on the active list of all local forces. Eventually it expanded to all residents in Guyana over the age of fifteen (15) other than members of the active Force.

Initially, competitions were of two types- smallbore and fullbore. However, there was a lull in smallbore competition for several years which resulted from a shortage of ammunition. Happily, in 1992, the smallbore competition was re-introduced.

Originally, shooters, depending on their shooting ability, were categorised as ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ class, with ‘A’ class being the highest. However, if a shooter was selected and participated in an international competition, he immediately became a senior shooter and attained an ‘X’ class rating.

In keeping with the other countries, the local association now uses two classes: ‘A’ class which identifies shooters who are selected and participate in an international competition. They are referred to as senior shooters. ‘B’ class identifies shooters who have not yet competed at international competitions. They are also referred to as