The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-11-21
Frederick Haskin's Letter


first class shot. True ess,,.A.
rather than unusually keen stsAtI 4
needed.
Shooting makes for physica, n,
ness" says this official. There A..
NO strenuous contortions aftacnsS
to it, but the kneeling, rising snS
STOPPING constitute a kind OF ersr.
else that NEST people need. Inai.
rectly. too. the marksman Is Az 4.
bs benefited physically. The IA
ginner soon learns that he csn
shoot straighter when he feels ~,
than when he is run down. Enon.h.
sleep, some exercise, nourishinr
food makes for steadiness M,
rifleman rareH goes in for rigorous
training, but he finds his shootiny
record an, incentive to ordinary III.
ness.
Teaches Coordination.
Perhaps the chief benefit Of rife
shooting, though, is that 4 teaches
coordination of mind and
muscle and self analysis You
learn more from a miss than from
a hit. If you fail to hit the bulls
eye you start figuring why you miss
ed the shot, and so the valuable
habit of analyzing mistakes d IN
culcated." -
The importance of accurate INNS.
cular control, as pointed out by TIL,
expert, is obvious. Nerves are
prevalent source of unfitness in this
country today. The rife expert SAYS
that a person who is excessively
nervous either learns to control
his nerves and muscles by practic
ing at a target or he never learns
to shoot. The nervous, thoughtless
person who bangs away gets no
where unit! he develops self-con-
troll.
The average individual can &c,
GUire this control. The rife expert
say: skill at rifle shooting is not
a gift, and it is not born in the
average American. 1t is sheer bunk
that the American can shoot intui-
lively. Given better muscular CO.
ordination by nature one man may
develop shooting ability quicker
than another of course, but most Of
the men at the top of the game are
men who have got there by work"
| The expert offers another point
to show the value of rifle expert
ence. He points out that because
of the danger of carelessly handled
firearms the discipline Of the range
is strict. The amateur soon has it
drilled into him that he must OBJ
serve the rules for handling a gun
and staying at his post. Conscious
! ly or unconsciously the man who
shoots learns to discipline himself
and others. 1t is because this eau
ton becomes second nature to the
shooter that there are so few ac-
cidents on the rifle range. In the
past 10 years there have been no
fatalities at the national rifle
matches. which are the biggest con-
tests in the country. with from 900
to 1900 competitors annually, and
not more than two or three people
have been injured.
II might say here" the rifle man
.. added, that if you make study
of gun accidents you find that the
gun is almost invariably held by a
person who knows nothing about
shooting. An experienced MARKS
man would never think OF pointing
a gun. loaded or unloaded, at any
body for fun.
ut is always the unloaded sun
; that goes off. Why? Because the
. owner has not had it out often
, enough to know whether ii is load
ed or not. The trouble is that most
: people who have guns have no
/ place to shoot them. A man keeps
: a gun for an emergency. and when
t the emergency comes he knows 100
) little about shooting to handle the
; weapon effectively. 49,
: Il believe that as target shooting
| becomes more popular the gun VII
= lose its bad reputation as cause
of accidents, and what is more there
) will be fewer crooks. The gunman
I is not afraid of the amateur sho'
I and his rusty gun, but he does rear
2 a trained marksman, and II tht
5 average citizen were a crack sho,
: there would be fewed thugs anu
a second story men"