Whilst there is much banter being traded over the border currently regarding when a referendum should take place over whether Scotland should leave or remain part of the UK, some MP's are continuing to put their own anti shooting and anti gun agenda forward. A Private Members Bill due to be read on Friday 20 January and being proposed by Thomas Docherty, Labour MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, that seeks to introduce a minimum age for holding a shotgun certificate of 14-years-old. In an article written and available on the Countryside Alliances web site, an article which contains the relevant information so I will not duplicate the contents here.
However, for our shooting friends who reside north of the border, I would advise that they should be careful for what they wish for. For many years the Scots have been complaining about mismanagement and rule from London. A seat of power far removed from and out of touch with their ways and life styles. Now for a Southerner to be in agreement may come as a bit of a shock to some but those in the seat of government in the UK are also not in touch with the ways and life styles of those a mere 50 miles south of London. With this in mind I put it forward that on the whole the UK is London if you are a politician and therefore the further your seat is away from the capital the more out of the loop you are. Over recent years though there have a group of politicians that have tried to reverse this equation. Scottish Labour MP's and Scottish Nationalist MP's have been pushing for more restrictive and oppressive firearms laws. I make the assumption that with the Labour MP's attempts in this area, are borne more out of an ongoing class war that most of the party seem intent on pursuing. The greatest success in this attack on the classes was the hunting ban which even those who drafted the law concede that it has had little if any effects on hunting, with the possible exception of making more people attend hunt days than ever they did in the past. Still making assumptions, the SNP's motive seems to be more about getting rid of the English who own most of the land in Scotland, either as individuals or via business opportunities, where shooting by this group and their compatriots, would appear to cause them some discomfort. Either way many attempts to promote further restrictions upon firearms have emanated north of the border to be imposed upon those south of the border.
Should this or any other laws get enacted it will be a sad day for all those involved in any of the shooting sports. For our friends north of the border, be warned, with enthusiastic but unsuccessful attempts to pass laws in the UK, after a successful independence vote these same politicians will have a free hand to write new laws. The first of these will be such onerous firearms laws that, to the joy of the SNP, estates will be sold. As without a valid Scottish certificate, possession on any firearm, shotgun or rifle will be illegal. Labour will support these proposals and no doubt add bits they feel necessary just to make sure. The whole package will be wrapped up in a public safety blanket so that those who live in large urban or suburban areas will now feel safer walking the streets at night.
The upshot will be, there will still be as many crimes committed with firearms as the criminals will not hand them in and as there is no certificate to trace the owners the police will remain oblivious as to the amount of guns available to the criminal fraternity. Without those estates being able to offer shooting holidays the estates will be absorbed by the state and due to the lack of funds, slowly fall into disrepair. Of course this may not come to pass but when you have politicians who are prepared to play the waiting game and slowly erode the ability of new blood to enter into any of the shootings sports with such proposed regulations as envisaged Mr. Docherty, it is not if but when.
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