Sad, but true!

The article below this, “Will this petition fare any better?”, is something well worth while thinking about. There is an article written with regard to pheasant shooting on land owned by the Welsh government. I know not all shooters shoot game or vermin, and that’s fine. They, like the vast majority of the population are content to allow someone else to prepare their Sunday roast, hamburger, or, BBQ chicken fillets. Then there are those who shoot, and have chosen not to eat meat at all. As for vegans, I cannot say, as I have yet to meet a vegan shooter, but I’m sure there is someone out there.

But I digress, just a bit, as you can see shooters come in all forms, as do shooting sports. They are as fractured as a group as you could possibly get. They all enjoy their sport, but ask a clay shooter if they would support a game shooter, and likely as not the answer would be NO. They may then expand their view point as to why they should be allowed to shoot, whilst the game shooter should be curtailed. The same is often true when the rolls are reversed. In short, shooters, and the shooting community is, and are, their own worst enemy.

Back to the article, to read click here. The anti-shooting, animal rights, and other organisations are different. They have no qualms about banding together, if there is something they’re against, they’re all against it. In one paragraph of the article, it states that 76% of people that signed the consultation were for a ban on shooting on NRW land. It goes on to say that 12,700 people also signed animal aid’s petition supporting the consultations views. In a later paragraph, the Countryside Alliance are quoted as saying, “this will send a chill down the spine of the hundreds of thousands of people who shoot…..”

So where are these hundreds of thousands of people? I know they exist, not because I want them to, but because I can see exactly how many there are through freedom of information requests. And given that there are so many people that legally own a firearm, it really is surprising that situations like that below and the Natural Resources Wales, show such a disparity between ownership and support for any and all shooting debates and consultations.

In conclusion, will the petition, or, the game shooting argument on Welsh government owned land succeed? Sadly, most probably not. The apathy, and reticence of shooters to support any shooting outside of the discipline they undertake is proven. Just ask a pistol shooter, the rest of the shooting community were happy to sacrifice them in order to appease the anti’s, in the vane hope that they would then leave the rest of the shooting community alone. The anti’s have nothing to lose, and will keep pushing their viewpoint until they eventually win out.

The short poem by Martin Niemoller sums the situation up with extreme clarity; if you are unwilling to help others, when the time comes, there may be no-one to help you.

Will this petition fare any better?

I'd like to say thank you to all those concerned with the following. I have cut and pasted the item directly from our friends at Fittleworth. There is no more to be said as to why you should support the this petition.
Not so long ago in the U.S.A. similar legislation was proposed with regard to .50 calibre firearms. It was worded in such a way that when the National Rifle Association, read and studied it in detail, its ambiguity became clear. For if it had been passed into law, any calibre larger than .50 would have become illegal. This would have meant that many shotguns would have fallen into the category of being larger than .50 calibre.
You can look at this two ways. One, a badly written piece of legislation, and the unintended consequences of such proposed legislation. Or, two, it was written that way deliberately, and without the due diligence of those supporting shooting, if passed would have given the authorities the opportunity to remove legally held firearms at a stroke. Either way you must decide for yourself. But whatever you do decide, bear in mind, this is an ongoing situation, and without your support now, you may be next.

I know that there have been numerous petitions with regard to shooting and the shooting sports over the years; none of which have met with any success to speak of. This one however is worthy of your attention, and hopefully your support and signature.

This is not the thin end of the wedge, we are way past that now, and in my estimation, we are about half way up the wedge. This petition is an effort to halt this onerous piece of legislation. Legislation, which in its own words, is not based on any facts, figures, or, evidence. Despite any, and all evidence to the contrary, honest, law abiding sportsmen and women are yet again being targeted.

This time don’t wait for these infringements to directly affect you, help a fellow shooter to be able to continue enjoying their sport. After all, next time it may be your chosen discipline!

Remove articles 28-35 inclusive in chapter 6 of the offensive weapons bill.