First-ever [UK] National Shooting Week launches with a bang

The first-ever National Shooting Week was launched on Monday 21st May at the National Shooting Centre at Bisley, known as ‘the home of shooting’.

From Saturday May 26th to Sunday June 3rd, thousands of people across the UK will try one of the most exciting Olympic sports during National Shooting Week.

Shooting schools and clubs are putting on more than 200 open days across the country so the public can try shooting for the first time.

A group of the UK’s finest Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth and international medal winning shooters were on hand at Bisley to lend their support to National Shooting Week. National Shooting Week is a Government-backed initiative created by the Countryside Alliance and organised by the British Shooting Sports Council (BSSC), the umbrella body for shooting sports.

Speaking at the launch, the Government spokesperson for shooting sports, Martin Salter MP said: “I fully support the ideals behind National Shooting Week, particularly with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in mind. The event will also demystify certain imagery surrounding guns and give members of the public a great day out in a safe environment.”

Also at the launch was Shadow Sports Minister Hugh Robertson MP who said: “Shooting is one of the most inclusive Olympic and Paralympic sports, where gender, age and disability are no barriers to success. I applaud National Shooting Week as an excellent idea to promote a sport in which Britain excels. We must give our best shooters every chance to shine in the future.”

Lord Shrewsbury, chairman of event organiser, the British Shooting Sports Council, said: “At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, shooting accounted for 23 out of the UK’s 116 medals, so the sport will have a huge role to play in the 2012 Olympic Games. National Shooting Week is all about people experiencing a popular sport that Britain is actually good at!”

Olympic gold medallist Richard Faulds, who gave a shooting demonstration, said: “I’m delighted to support National Shooting Week because initiatives to raise awareness of shooting sports in the public eye on a grand scale can only be a good thing.”

Sports Minister Richard Caborn did not attend the Bisley launch, but said: “I would like to take this opportunity to wish all those involved in the event every success. Offering people a chance to try Olympic and Paralympic sports may inspire future 2012 medallists. Britain has a strong track record of Olympic shooting success.”

Countryside Alliance chairman Kate Hoey MP with (l-r) air rifle champion Nathan Sutherland, top pistol shot Samantha Buckley, pentathlete Montana Jones and the UK's record Commonwealth Games medal holder Mick Gault. Front, top air rifle shot Nathan Milgate.

Many areas restrict the type of guns you may own just as ours do here, thus you no more have gun rights than we do, you just have wider priveledges than we do.

The difference is that those restrictions are in violation of our highest law, the Constitution of the United States. Since you do have a written Constitution, the government is free to do whatever restrictions they can persuade the populace is needed. Or convince them after putting the restrictions in place that they were needed, which is not quite the same thing. Compare:

A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.

To:

That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;

The latter is from the English Bill of Rights of 1689. Of course that is a mere act of Parliament, and not a fundamental limitation on the actions of the Government of the United Kingdom, which is why it is so easy to violate.

Your basic premise is that you can shoot for sport, so what the problem. Neither the above prevision of Your Bill or Rights, nor the one above it which comprised the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, had anything to do with sport, nor even with taking game. Today in the UK, self defense is not a valid reason for owning a firearm, be it handgun, rifle or shotgun, let alone defense against any would be tyrants in government.

For those who doubt this, here is a link to the Thames Valley Police which lays out the restrictions on ownership and the requirements for obtaining permission to own one.

One little tidbit

Applicants for firearms certificates have to show 'good reason' for possession of each and every firearm. In practical terms that means which firearm they want, what they what to use it for and where they are going to use it. For example, a .22RF rifle may be authorised for shooting vermin on a specific piece of land or a 7.62mm rifle may be authorised for target shooting whilst a member of a specific club.
...
All applications are subject to standard checks with the police national computer (PNC), Criminal Intelligence and several other departments. Firearms applications must be supported by two referees and shot gun applications must be countersigned. All applicants are visited by an FEO (Firearms Enquiry Officer) to establish their bona fides.

And this, to clarify that even shotguns commonly used for sport shooting and hunting in the US are heavily restricted in the UK.

: What's the difference between a firearm and a shotgun?
A: In simple terms, a firearm has a rifled barrel and fires bullets, a shot gun (or musket) is smooth bore and fires cartridges or blanks. However, a multi-shot shot gun (capable of holding one in the chamber and more than two in the magazine) or has a detachable magazine requires a firearm certificate as does a short barreled (less than 24 inches) shot gun.

For those in the US, these are the sorts of "reasonable restrictions" our home grown gun grabbers would impose upon us, if allowed to do so. The next quote from that Police page shows what the Authorities consider legitimate reasons for owning firearm and shotguns:

: Why do people want firearms or shotguns in this day and age? A: There are many reasons for possessing firearms and shotguns.

People have them for shooting vermin (rabbits, foxes etc), target shooting (an Olympic discipline), game shooting (pheasant, deer etc), humane killing of animals in distress, and occasionally to slaughter animals. Firearms (and ammunition) are also collected.

They are also used for signalling purposes and starting races. Re-enactment societies such as the Sealed Knot use cannon and muskets for their displays. Firearms can be held for use overseas in expeditions or big game hunting.

Veterinary surgeons' tranquillising equipment is also subject to firearms legislation.

One other little factoid. In the dark days of WW-II, before the US entered the war, the UK was pretty much bare of lawfully owned civilian weapons, although not to extent true today. The Germans were serious about an invasion. But their were not enough arms for the Army (many having been lost at Dunkirk), let alone any for the Home Guard. So the appeal went out, and the US National Rifle Association and it's members responded with donations of their privately owned weapons suitable for repelling the Hun on the landing beaches, on the order of 7,000 of them.

Here's a non NRA link indicating that the collection did indeed occur, with the following quote

Meanwhile, the NRA continued its commitment to training, education and marksmanship. During World War II, the association offered its ranges to the government, developed training materials, encouraged members to serve as plant and home guard members and developed training materials for industrial security. The NRA's call to help arm Britain in 1940 resulted in the collection of more than 7,000 firearms for Britain's defense against potential invasion by Germany.

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