CameronWilson

Wow.

What, the mother of the deceased was the shooters drug dealer?

Are there any official figures on how many air rifles there currently are in Scotland?

Where did you get the golf club statistic from?

On the subject of licencing airguns in any form, I would ask any responsible individual - why on earth you would want that to happen?

There is a common misconception amongst responsible shooters, that the introduction of a licencing scheme will allow them to distinguish themselves from the irresponsible shooters. That by the Daily Mail reporting that the cat was shot with an unlicenced airgun, we as individuals who uphold the law will be set aside, the true culprits will be unmasked, and that the years of injustice will finally come to an end. This is a view I strongly subscribed to until only recently, when I realised...

***DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!***

This is a trap. I can guarantee you, that it will only be a matter of time, before a licenced air weapon will fall into the wrong hands. Even with the best will in the world, events will conspire and some poor bast**d (who probably hasn't broken a law in his life) will suffer a freak misfortune. At which point two things will happen:

1. Daily Mail readers will take great pleasure in reading that the cat was shot with a licenced airgun, public outrage will be cultivated and we will all be tarred with the same brush again.

You could argue that that is no different from the situation we are in today, but:

2. the politicians who were credited with the creation of the licencing scheme will no longer be answerable, and will have moved on. The new politicians, keen to have their own 15 minutes of fame and seizing upon public opinion, will be quick to point out the failings of their predecessors licencing scheme, and will announce 'Even with the strictest of laws in place, we cannot control these deadliest of weapons. We have tried every measure possible, and the only avenue we have left is an outright ban.'



Make no mistake, licencing is the thin end of the wedge.