FOR the first time in 12 years Georgina Geikie has been allowed to shoot in the UK — and she says it couldn't be better timed with London 2012 two years away.

British laws force the 25-year-old from South Tawton to shoot abroad, with the 1997 Firearms Act banning the use of .22 handguns in the UK.

To make matters worse for Gorgs, as she is known, shooting is seen as illegal in Britain and therefore she receives no financial support and must fund her every move herself.

However in a radical move the former Okehampton College pupil and her British teammates have been given limited access to shoot at ranges in Bisley and Bedford this year.

And Gorgs admitted the decision could prove vital with August's World Championships and October's Commonwealth Games next on the road to the London 2012 Olympics.

'With 2012 coming up a small group of us on the British team have been able to get access to our guns but we are still very restricted,' said Gorgs.

'We can only shoot them in Bisley and Bedford and apart from that you can't shoot a live shot at all and the security at those ranges is very heavy.

'But the facilities are good, perhaps not as good as they could be, but this is the first six months in 12 years that we have been able to bring guns back to the country.

'You've got to start somewhere and having access to the guns again can only benefit us in the run up to 2012 especially with the worlds and the Commonwealths coming up.

'Having the freedom to hold onto them every day, not necessarily shooting them, but we now have the ability to train with them, which we call dry firing — we squeeze the trigger but no shot is fired.'

Gorgs made the long trip up from Okehampton to London last week for a behind the scenes tour of the Olympic Park — coinciding with the two years to go until 2012 mark.

And Gorgs — who will be aiming to upgrade the Commonwealth bronze she won in four years ago in Delhi in October — said her London 2012 bid is firmly on track.

'I visited the park for the first time on the day it was officially two years to go until 2012 — it was a bit of a mammoth journey but it was worth it.

'And I feel like I am where I need to be — I have my training planned out leading all the way up to the Games — so I am definitely on the right track to get to London.

'I don't want to get ahead of myself but I do think about going and winning a medal. You've got to aim for the top — there is no point in aiming for second.'

Team 2012, a team of 1,200 athletes across the UK who are aiming to compete at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, is supported by Visa. For more information go to http://www.lifeslowsbetter.com">www.lifeslowsbetter.com