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All air guns should be banned forthwith and those continuing to own and/or use them charged with possession of a deadly weapon.

I seem to re-call a local MP wanting these banned (I think it was Alan Milburn). What happened he's obviously abandoned this? And isn't the Scottish Parliament going (considering) to ban airguns?

That's a great idea, lets just keep banning everything that's slightly enjoyable and live dull uninteresting lives because of a few idiots in this world. I've just read on here about a lad who's bitten a pigeon's head off. Are you going to shout for the government to ban teeth. There are plenty of people in this country that really enjoy using air rifles to shoot at paper targets, tin cans etc... I know I was one of them when I was younger. People, please stop calling for the government to ban everything and anything as soon as something goes wrong. I read a while back about a mother that wanted garden trampolines banned because her son fell from one and broke his back - ridiculous yes? but just another in a long line of crazy demands.

The government banned handguns after the Dunblane massacre. That really worked didn't it? The same would happen with a ban on airguns. Only the law abiding would take any notice, the criminals would keep theirs.

I'm sorry to say that Mr Kelly has fallen into the trap of believing that if an item is banned in law then it ceases to exist, and that people who break the law will suddenly obey if just one more law is passed. Since banning pistols, the proportion of pistols used to kill and injure people has doubled, yet it has always been against the law to kill or injure people. Then there is the wish to punish everyone for the sins of the guilty - there are around 4 million airguns in the UK, yet Mr Kellly would have them all deprived of their sport due to the criminal and despicable acts of a few thugs. I'm [italic]absolutely sure[/italic] Mr Kelly is speaking from the heart and with the honourable intent (and I share his disgust of these acts,) but banning/licensing has been proven not to work. [bold]We need a complete review of the firearms laws to make them workable, understandable and efficient, so that the police are not tied down with the masses of bureaucracy involved in the current acts.[/bold]

As a responsible airgun target shooter and hunter I am continually sickened by the criminal misuse of airguns. However, banning is not the answer, as stated by others above. Stronger measures should be taken to punish those misusing such equipment, not punishing legal and lawful airgun owners who do not break the law.

As a person who has been using airguns safely, responsibly, and legally from my early adolescence, I find Mr. Kelly's comments alluding to all airgun owners being thugs, both personally insulting, and woefully ill informed. I am one of thousands of people in this country, from all walks of life, who enjoy the responsible use of airguns without mis-using them. The laws in place regarding airguns are already ample. However their enforcement, from arrest, to prosecution, to punishment are very much lacking. What is the point of making more laws if the ones already in place are not enforced properly? I do agree with Mr. Kelly in this regard. Would those who call for a ban of airguns do the same for cars because of the idiocy of a small percentage of drivers? By all means punish the guilty, but a ban would only serve to punish the innocent.

There should definately NOT be an airgun ban, shooting is a sport - of which us Brits tend to be pretty good at! Airgun shooting can be very useful - especially at the moment with the immense rat population, shooting them is the quickest, most humane way of dealing with pests such as rats (poisen is slow & painful & a risk to other people & animals) People who are ill educated about shooting often take a negative outlook at the sport. As with anything, there is a minority who cause a problem, & I agree that this [bold]minority[/bold] should be dealt with. But [bold]a ban on airguns won't stop this minority causng problems[/bold] , they will just cause problems in other ways. (Would you ban alcohol because some people mis-use it?) I rest my case.

I am a responsible airgun shooter who is fed up with the likes of Mr Kelly who seems to think of everyone with an airgun is a thug. I have insurance and belong to an airgun club and have only ever shot at a 6" paper target, oh my goodness lock me up I'm a menace to society. Forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't Airgun shooting an Olympic event!!!!! Lock them up they have airguns, never mind they have trained for years to perfect there sport and have become the best there countries have to offer. Come on people get real.

Why oh why is it that the majority always have to suffer at the hands of a tiny minority? The answer is not a knee jerk reaction such as suggested in the first post, the answer lies with actually using the existing penalties to their full effect, not treating mindless thugs with namby pamby kid gloves. 12 months in nick should mean just that, not asbo orders and cautions, Albert Pierrepoint's successor is long overdue in my book. Nige

Cars do not kill or maim, some of the drivers do. Kitchen knives do not kill or maim, some of their owners do. Airguns do not kill or maim, some of the owners do. We have enough laws to punish offenders, whether they use cars, airguns, kitchen knives (want to ban these too?) or broken bottles (ban bottles?, why not apply those laws? People must start to realise that laws are only followed by normal law abiding people. The vast, vast majority of airgun owners are law abiding people. The disgusting crimes that precipitate the "ban them, ban them" cries are carried out by an extremely tiny percentage of airgun owners. Catch them, try them and for Heavens sake birch them, but please don't tar us all with the same brush or naively assume that because something is against the law, it ceases to exist, even if the politicians would have you believe it.

[quote][bold]David Lacey[/bold] wrote: All air guns should be banned forthwith and those continuing to own and/or use them charged with possession of a deadly weapon.[/quote] All kitchen knives should be banned forthwith and those continuing to own and/or use them charged with possession of a deadly weapon. All cars should be banned forthwith and those continuing to own and/or use them charged with possession of a deadly weapon. All bottles should be banned forthwith and those continuing to own and/or use them charged with possession of a deadly weapon. All hammers should be banned forthwith and those continuing to own and/or use them charged with possession of a deadly weapon. All walking sticks should be banned forthwith and those continuing to own and/or use them charged with possession of a deadly weapon. [italic][bold]NOT REALLY VERY SENSIBLE OR REALISTIC IS IT?[/bold][/italic]

Why oh why do misinformed biggoted people jump on the highest of horses whenever an incident like this occurs??. If the courts actually punished these low life idiots when caught then maybe a life long airgunner like myself would not feel persecuted. We are not THUGS as mentioned in your article but ho hum the power of the media !!

[bold]Ban airguns. Such weapons are no use to anyone but thugs. Their availability is inexcusable.[/bold] "I TAKE OFFENCE TO THIS STATEMENT",OBVIOUSLE Y YOU HAVENT DONE YOUR RESEARCH AND HAVENT A CLUE WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT! THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WHO OWN AIRGUNS,ARE RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE. IT ONLY TAKES THE ODD FOOL WITH A GUN,TO GIVE THE DECENT OWNERS A BAD NAME.

punish the people doing the crime. Not the people who obide the law on airguns.

we need to remove the low life scum from the streets!!!!,that is the only problem with air guns,cars,wood,a kitchen knife or any other item that thay can use..you remove the problem and not harm a honest sports or day to day items that most of us use in a responsable manner...if thay did not have a tool for the job thay would just kick it...the end result is the same. yes its very sad but until a hard line is taken it will be people like me tha will suffer with the loss of my sport.

I would like to invite Mr Kelly to come and shoot with me. I'd like to show, educate how a responcible person can enjoy many types of shooting sport and to hopefully try and change his way of thinking. It's the idiots who shouldn't be allowed to own a pair of scissors let alone an air gun who should be legistated against not the gun. I look forward to hearing from you Mr Kelly

I notice you say [quote]"some involving air-guns".[/quote] I would be interested to know what the other 'weapons' used were, if these poor creatures were stoned to death would you ban stones? You will find the vast majority of air gunners are sensible disciplined people with a very focussed moral compass and are as sickened as you by the acts you speak of. Tarring people who practice a legal sport or pastime and these hooligans with the same brush is very narrow minded and shows complete ignorance of the facts... I suggest you take some time to find out the potential impacts of your chest thumping before you commit pen to paper (or digits to keyboard)

Mr Kelly is a fool to believe that banning airguns would relieve society of these low life vermin who commit these acts of cruelty. i am a responsible airgun target shooter and collector and i refuse to be tarred with the same brush as the aforementioned problems to society. only way to deal with these idiots is to punish them to the fullest extent of the law,5 years means 5 years and not a suspended sentence and a slap on the wrist

As expected, a torrent of abuse and silly comments (yes I mean you D Martyn) from airgun enthusiasts. Your silence, until provoked by the suggestion that your so called "sport" should be banned (after numerous atrocities perpetrated on animals and humans) is indicative of the lack of cellular structure between your ears. Outside the rural community, ownership of all guns, crossbows and the carrying of knives should be the subject of automatic imprisonment. They are not needed in a civilised society, which hopefully we will have one day.

such ill informed ideas and comments are scandalous.The only thing any ban does is affect the law abiding. There are many thousands of shooting enthusiasts who would never put anyone in harms way. The hand gun ban in 1998 had no effect whatsoever on gun crime, in fact there is now 40% increase in firearm gun crime. Knne jerk reactions like this should continue across the spectrum if using airguns as an example ie ban hammers as many murders are committed with a hammer.

I would just like to point out that I belong to an airgun club and not one of the 100+ members that meet every second week to shoot knock down targets in friendly competition are thugs. I would suggest that the author checks his facts, sits back and inwardly digests his findings prior to posting such misinformed, inaccurate and bigoted nonsense...

[bold]bold[/bold] Mr Kelly, you insult my intelligence by reporting ill thought out statements like this, did you actually do any research before printing this article, did you contact any of the governing bodies of Airgun shooting in the UK. My Father was a Marksman in the Army, he taught me to shoot safely from the age of 8. I am now 46 and have been shooting Air rifles for both Vermin Control and Target Shooting. I have spent good, well earned money on joining a recognised club (Leicester small bore rifle and pistol club) I also have insurance cover from B.A.S.C (British Association for Shooting and Conservation. Please go and spend your time doing something more useful, rather than trying to spoil and degrade a part of my upbringing and right to shoot. Thanks. Neil. (Sniper-Wolf)

David Lacey you seem to be extremely anti toward airguns! Why is that? What is your experience with airguns? None I suspect, so I very much doubt it should qualify you for a valid opinion on them! All I see is another arm chair warrior commenting on something that he knows absolutley nothing about! I am an avid airgun enthusiast and participate in many national organised airgun events and I consider myself a highly responsible airgun shooter. I in fact know a few of the people who have already commented on this issue above and they too are highly creditable and responsible airgun shooters! So what would banning airguns do? What did banning hand guns do? The answer is the same for both, nothing! The way to tackle the problem is not by banning evrything that seems to be 'unsafe', as people have already mentioned if this your reasoning behind your very ill infromed comments then I have compiled a list of what should be banned: Cars Motorcycles Motor Scooters Kitchen knives Snooker and Pool Cues Football Boots Kitchen utensils Aerosols Lighters and Matches Long pointy sticks Household furniture Pillows All the above have the capability to be used in a lethal capacity by anybody, yourself included, infact you could do a lot more damage with a pillow than an airgun. David Lacey I am afraid you are nothing but a biggott and I bid good day to your stupid comments! Good day.

"some people have something to say and some people have to say something" I think Mr Kelly falls into the second part of the statement. Ignorance is no excuse, keep off the lentils

Dear Tony How wrong you are! We love the sport of HFT and FT please make your comments when you have studied the subject, and not before. Thank you John Young

[quote][bold]David Lacey[/bold] wrote: All air guns should be banned forthwith and those continuing to own and/or use them charged with possession of a deadly weapon.[/quote] That is a typical kneejerk reaction to a subject you know very little about David. Airgun shooting as a sport is enjoyed safely by thousands of responsible people. Its the idiot element, that gives the sport a bad name. Lets compare it to Car users, thousands of responsible drivers on the road but you get joyriders maiming and killing people. I do not hear any calls for cars to be banned? Lets get a grip here.

As a professional user of airguns, with qualifications and insurances to prove my level of professionalism, I take great offence to being branded a thug by someone who has never met me. Yet more ill thought out laws which punish only the law-abiding are not required, responsible enforcement of those already in force is.

Here we go again with responsible people being blamed for the actions of a criminal minority. The only things that really need banning in this country are idiots and irresponsible journalists - which are all-to-often often one and the same.

'Thugs' ironic! Take a look at airgun shooters magazines, or the various internet resources used and maintained by them, I think you'll find that the vast majority are as 'Law and Order' as your rather ill-informed correspondent....

Firstly, I don't belong to a shooting club. Secondly, I don't own an air rifle or any form of firearm. But to suggest that the 1 million plus owners of air rifles in the UK can all be grouped under the title of "thug" is nothing more than a knee jerk reaction which goes so wide of the mark. What we, as a society, should be addressing is our seemingly tolerant behaviour towards totally unacceptable behaviour by others, whether that be by shooting animals or other means, The UK has some of the toughest firearm laws in the EU, if not the world. Anyone discharging an air rifle on public property faces a £5000 fine and a prison sentence. If they are prepared to risk that, does anyone honestly believe a ban would change anything. As others have said, banning hand guns after Dunblane did not achieve its aims; just look at the amnount of gun crime in our cities today. Target shooting is a very old traditional sport in the UK and is tightly controlled. The use of firearms, including air rifles, for vermin control can only happen on private land. No one has the lawful right to shoot swans in a public place already. Mr Kelly and Mr Lacey need to give a little more thought to a realistic solution to the dissonant behaviour in society rather than trotting down an obvious path to failure.

Thanks for calling me a thug.As a 56 year old and a father of 2 boys and a airgun user.I think you should reconsider your statement.

Care to come back with a comment Mr Kelly?

Just like the hand gun ban, I mean look at how well that has worked. You never hear of inner city shootings........... ... All that it has acheived is depriving people of a much loved sport.

I am sickened and depressed by the inhuman and despicable act of labelling people as "thugs" for going about their lawful business as responsible airgunners. People who use airguns, catapults or any other device to attack wildlife should be properly dealt with by the police. Anyone who uses legally-owned tools such as airguns, kitchen knives or baseball bats without breaking the law should be left alone and not interfered with.

Once again, petty minded publicity seekers, latch on to an easy target (no pun intended). If these people were up for an informed debate rather than trying to impose their ideas on everyone else, I would be the first to step up to the platform. We have little to be proud of in this country any more, however there are members of our shooting team who still manage to put a bit of the Great back in Great Britain. You should be proud of them, not labelling them as thugs.

it's been said on here allready but banning anything only works on the honest not the criminals, Act's like this sicken members of the shooting comunity more than any others as we end up being tarred with the same brush, there will allways be criminals and they don't care wether some thing is banned that's why they are criminals, wake up banning things doesn't work, education and enforcing the law we allready have is all that is needed

I beleive Tony Kelly is also calling for bans on the following: [bold]Wasps[/bold] - they have no use. [bold]Bees[/bold] - OK, they make honey, but they look like wasps. [bold]A4 Paper[/bold] - cut himself once....paper cuts hurt. [bold]Silver paper[/bold] - got some stuck in a filling once while chewing a kit-kat. [bold]Hats[/bold] - because hoodies wear hats. [bold]Cricket bats[/bold] - could be used as a weapon. [bold]Chocolate[/bold] - has no purpose, and is bad for teeth. Lastly [bold]Shoes[/bold] - very few attacks are made by people not wearing shoes.

Yes lets ban airguns immediately. Once outlawed the minority of criminals who misuse them will hand them in at the nearest police station without hesitation. The penalties for being caught mis using an airgun are allready severe in this country. It is the police and courts who are not robust enough in thier dealings with such morons. Passing laws willy nilly will do nothing other than punish the law abiding majority of airgun owners. I demand a ban on all baseball bats!! They are on sale to anyone across the country & when was the last time you saw a game of baseball being played in the UK?????

What a small minded idiot... banning airguns will not work at all!!! it will make the honest suffer! the criminals ignore it just as much as they ignored the crime of shooting cats and swans!! Just like handguns now...Ban it and the criminals ignore that, who suffers? Really some people are just plain brain dead... The editor should be warned about publishing nonsence.

I am absolutly shocked, and hurt by the small mindedness of the article. Air gunning is a fantastic sport which brings young/old people together and is held by tight laws and regulations. YOU dont have to punish the millions of people who shoot responsibly because of a minority. Bit like cutting your head off because you have a head ache dont you think!?

can i assure you that all airgunners are not delinqent, spotty trouble makers. I deplore anything that touches on cruelty to animals. Its not airguns or pistols that want banning its the people who misuse them in such a way. more animals are hurt by being knocked over by motorists so whats next...the media is such an unforgiving place, especially when its lead or misinformed as it is in this case. no one wants damage to such an imperial bird as a swan, for someone to do it strikes at the heart of why we have such idiots and unrest in this country. its about not respecting other people, their prpoerty and animals..that surely is not the fault of airguns. Please take a step back , think .....dont "tag" us all with the "thug" label. locate and punish the "people" not the metal and wood ?? i think some articles are there to make you think...to get the old grey matter going.... this is one of them. Best wishes, Non-thug and proud to be responsible, Gary Sides

I feel very strongly that this is not a balanced discussion!! There has been a tremendous response from the airgun fraternity to mock the originators of this thread. I just think we should feel sorry for them. I am a 48 year old father of two, my younger daughter has just taken up air pistol shooting as part of her aims to succeed in Modern Pentathlon. in order to support her, I have also joined a recognised, licenced gun club. Does this make both of us narrow minded dangerous thugs? I fully understand the antipathy generated by moronic idiots who shoot at pets, people and property, but [bold]PLEASE[/bold] don't tar all the responsible shooters with the same brush

[quote][bold]David Lacey[/bold] wrote: As expected, a torrent of abuse and silly comments (yes I mean you D Martyn) from airgun enthusiasts. Your silence, until provoked by the suggestion that your so called \"sport\" should be banned (after numerous atrocities perpetrated on animals and humans) is indicative of the lack of cellular structure between your ears. Outside the rural community, ownership of all guns, crossbows and the carrying of knives should be the subject of automatic imprisonment. They are not needed in a civilised society, which hopefully we will have one day. [/quote] Mr. Lacey, you must have a very thin skin indeed as I can not see this "torrent of abuse" you mention, merely responsible and law abiding people's aversion to being labelled 'thugs'. These atrocities you speak of, and they are atrocities, disgust those who use airguns for lawful purposes as much as they do yourself. However, I notice a distinct lack of response from yourself to the sensible points raised here, one of which is: - There are numerous atrocities committed with cars each year by dangerous and irresponsible drivers, leading to injury or death of innocent men, woman and children. Would you like to to see cars banned from Britain's roads because of the irresponsible actions of the few? Those who blindly call for a ban on those things they dislike, and who have I suspect very little knowledge of the subject they debate, should have a care that their mentality does not lead to a ban of things they do like. A civilised society should punish the guilty and protect the innocent. A civilised society should not strip it's honest citizens of their liberties in order to restrain the the actions of a small minority of it's members, rather like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.

do people really think it is the airguns fault they have been used illegally? it is the people who have used the airgun that are the problem, why harm everyone who uses an airgun for something that a small minority do because they are obviously not well in the head

As the owner of not far off £1000 worth of Airgun and related equipment, I would like to know who is going to compensate me for that loss should my chosen and responsibly used equipment be banned? As for a lack of cellular matter or being a thug your comments are worthy only of scorn. The law already makes such acts of cruelty illegal and punishable by imprisonment if the current law was upheld there would be no need for a ban or indeed any further legislation.

I am not a thug Mr Kelly and neither are many of the other airgun users I know or correspond with. You have defamed our characters and I object strongly. Yes there are thugs who own or use airguns as there are thugs who own cars and drive them dangerously or spill out of our pubs brawling in the streets or support football teams only as an excuse for a good fight. All the airgunners I know are law abiding people and take great pains to ensure safe and sensible use. Now a call to ban bananas I would support. Nasty vicious weapons in the wrong hands.....

Mr Kelly, you are either very ill informed, or just plain ignorant. Since taking up the sport a short time ago I have not yet met a single air gunner that is a "thug" Every single one of them have been nothing short of friendly, intelligent, and most of all, responsible people who have willingly taken their time to show me how to shoot safely and responsibly, and without endangering people or animals. Yes there are a few (very few) idiots out there that get their kicks out of shooting pets, swans etc,so why not write to your local MP or Chief Constable and ask what they are doing about it? There are laws already in place to deal with them, but they don't seem to be used to their fullest extent. It is not the law abiding air gunners carrying out these despicable acts, so if air guns are banned these things will unfortunately continue to happen, as has, and is still happening after the handgun ban.It has not stopped people being shot by handguns, all it has done is stop the people who used them responsibly from doing so. I do hope you will read the above comments and decide to do a little research before making any more comments, or even better why not try google for some air gun sites and actually see who we are, you just might learn something.

Having already lost my Sportsboat/Waterskin g hobby on Windermere, due to the ban anything enjoyable brigade I am appalled at the small, narrow minded attitude of David Lacey. I am some thug Mr.Lacey. 57 years old, Company Director, Employer of 20 plus people and father of five law abiding offsprings, Teachers amongst them. Get a life Mr Lacey, try joining your local rifle club.

why is it this country is great at punishing the law abiding majority but crap of punishing the sub humans that seem to walk around this country doing what ever when ever like we dont need any more laws we just need the police to do thier job with out all these pc pratts going ohhh these poor people are bored got nothing to do all these are poor excuses.These people need to be punished properly not pampered these people really **** me off

This is the type of low quality writing I expect these days in the media, not just against airguns either. No research and no thought, just blurb that they know the readers will support, we all trust the media to be right after all. I blame bad media and a lazy approach to crime and punishment for this near dictatorship we live in today. Jas

So just because I use are rifles & air pistols I am a thug! Yet another case of the un-informed passing comments without due care or research! They are no use to anyone? Mr.Kelly, quite frankly, you don't know what you are talking about! True, injuries & harm done to animals & birds, such as cats & swans, for no reason other than possibly "fun" is inexcusable, no matter how that injury, or worse, death is executed. However, your assumption that air guns have no use to anyone but thugs is total rubbish. I use air guns for target shooting. I have several air guns, both rifles & pistols & they are all used in a target shooting competition of one form or another. No animals or birds have been injured, or worse, by me carrying out my chosen sport. I am a 33 year old responsible adult, carrying out my chosen sport in a safe & controlled manner. I am a member of a rifle club & a firearms certificate holder & use rimfire rifles for target shooting as well. If I act like a "thug" with my air guns, not only do I fall foul of the already very strict laws concerning firearms, but I would lose my firearms certificate, which means no rimfire rifles, and depending on the crime, no air rifles either & up to 5 years in prison. That's just the firearms side of the law, not to mention any other laws that may come into it. Also, there are many air rifle users who do an invaluable service, the vast majority do it for free, to many farmers, to legitimately reduce the amount of vermin on their land to prevent damage to crops & the spread of decease. There are many situations where putting poison down for rats, for example, would mean a danger of poisoning other animals & birds, such as chickens in a barn, where the use of an air rifle is far more safe than using poison & far mor humane too.

Pubnish the criminals not the rest of us. The problem is that the law as it exists is not enforced. The acts in the letter are already illegal. Firing, or even having an uncovered airgun in a public place is punishable by imprisonment and if an idiot shoots someone's pet they richly deserve a long prison sentence. Bans like the one Mr Kelly wants only affect the law abiding. It is very unlikely that the thugs resonsible would be bothered by it. Enforce the laws we already have - don't restrict the freedom of responsible people.

Once again, a simplistic piece of alleged journalism that seeks to neither understand nor inform. Once again, hysterical posts in support of yet another knee-jerk reaction. We already have laws in place to punish true thugs, we should not seek to victimise people who have done nothing wrong simply because a statistical few have acted abominably. If we are going to be ignorant enough to 'ban everything that can cause problems', then logically we should ban any and all religions too. After all, the atrocities committed by evil men who claimed to have god on their side have accounted for millions of human lives, have they not?? Please - think before you rant in future!!

I support all the airgunner-the safe, repsonsble shooters!

[bold]Dear Mr Kelly, You are an insult to your profession. How pathetic of you to jump on the knee jerking bandwagon to summon support for your own agenda. I am a serving member of the Armed Forces, have been for 22 years. I am married with two children. I have served in two Gulf Wars. How dare you call me a mindless thug. I am a responsible and mature person who's love of airguns is an expensive pastime. I enjoy shooting targets together with other like minded responsible folk. Not only that, we regularly shoot to raise money for charities such as the Help for Heroes cause. What do you do for such worthy causes? Nothing but sit in your ivory tower and imagine what else you can sensationalise and sell. These crimes that you have reported on are just that......crimes. Crimes that should be punished accordingly. Do not tar everyone with the same brush, as doing so makes you look a fool. regards A SNCO in the Royal Air Force.[/bold]

Mr Kelly, You have my sympathy. In writing your tirade you were not aware of the vitriol that you were about to bring down on your head. How could you? You, like everyone else, live inside your own little world and are ignorant of life outside. You clearly thought that the only users of airguns were low life who live on sink estates, and that it would be a popular rant to advocate banning them . Wrong! I hope that you now realise that airgunners are responsible people from all walks of life who meet every weekend for competitions and socialising. You know nothing of their world because, like all minority sports, they just quietly get on with it without any publicity. Open your mind and join them! PS; The secretary of my local club drives a brand new Volvo. Point made?

Again another Knee-jerk reaction to a problem caused by a minority. We have existing laws to deal with these idiots, why not shout from the roof tops that some thing should be done to catch the culprits rather than make a sweeping statement that by inference, tar's perfectly law abiding people with that same brush. The 'handgun' ban was the result of the same ill informed reaction to isolated incidents which was then amplified and grasped for political ends...for sensationalism and publicity. At that time home office estimations put illegal (criminal) firearm possesion to be in the region of 2 million unliscenced weapons in the UK, and some 100,000 legally owned by law abiding people who cared about their sport, were club members, went through all the police checks etc to be granted under strictly controlled conditions permission to own a firearm. However, to satisfy a political end these 'easy targets' were forced to give up their sport, were regarded in the same light as criminals, but the headlines shouted about how more guns were now taken off the streets, unfortunately the home office didn't have the same nice, accurate database of names and addresses of legal firearm owners for the 2 million illegal weapons still out there, in the hands of idiots and criminals, who use them in street crime and mindless acts of vanalism. Again, why target the 'tools' of crime when its the criminal who orchestrates the act. There are countless number of youngsters in shooting clubs learning discipline, the benefits of competition and responsibility, we are always hearing of 'how can we get kids off the street'well if we respond like we always seem to when someone gets on their soapbox and see's the opportunity for political gain or spin, then we will have turfed even more kids out onto the street to amuse themselves. We as a society need to be honest, get practical, sort the problems .. not carry on with such cosmetic 'acts', ...catch and punish the law breakers - problem solved!

Clearly this story from The Northern Echo is being circulated by air gun club members who are being urged to comment. People who use target rifles at properly organised clubs should be able to do so without being labelled as "thugs". I'm sure that they would advocate much greater control over the use of these potentially lethal weapons. It makes me sick to read about scum using these guns to harm wildlife and I'd like to see their use being limited to properly managed clubs. But something needs to be done. Kids are running wild and they are using air guns to get their kicks from killing pets and wildlife. What can be done?

as usual everyone is tarred with the same brush.lets just ignore the airgun club users and responsible airgun users.

Mr Kelly, what a shallow person you really are prehaps you are suprised about the answers you are having. Is it because the "supposed" thugs are more intelligent then you. Let me tell you as an air gunner I have private insurance that covers me up to 10 million pound if I should have a accident with my rifles. Funny enough my rifles are left alone most of the day and have yet to hurt any thing. Do thugs have insurance, no so I suggest you try to think about things instead of making yourself a total arse as you clearly are.

Mr Kelly, You are dead right. Don't let the blood sport supporting network grind you down. All these people that are commenting here are just being urged to do so because they are terrified that The Northern Echo might publicise a campaign to ban airguns. Ban them and these horrendous crossbows which are being used to kill and injur our pets. Ban them now!

I wholly agree that the sentencing on people who abuse air guns should be used to the fullest extents by the courts, however I think tht a total b an will only drive the millions of airguns that are held underground to be used and abused for years. I am not in favour of licensing them, however I think that the legal clubs should keep a register which most do for insurance purposes. PUNISH THE OFFENDER, not the sportsman.

Ill informed sensationalism. I'm a 53 year old who has been using airguns safely since the age of eight. Paper targets,steel targets (FT/HFT),Vermin control and hunting are all legitimate reasons for owning and using an air rifle ,as are plinking tin cans in the garden (try it its fun). I have tried and enjoyed all of these and prior to Dunblane I was deemed responsable enough to own handgun by the Met police. A thug? I dont think so. Your lack of response to these comments speaks volumes GS13401

ive been shooting for years and have never done any thing bad with an air gun i use it for targets ,hunting for rabbits .... pest control on the farm ... even jamie oliver used one on his cooking programme . he recomended nice fresh wild natural rabbit instead of chicken from factories ect ect just a few people that are brainless .should not ruin it for nice respectable people that shoot and no the right way to handle a gun ....

Peter in Richmond, you are correct. Many airgun shooters are members of clubs, one in particular has over 10,000 members. We all feel very passionately about our sport and will rush to its defence when threatened by ignorance and illegal acts by cretinous scum. The only thin I can suggest is that the Police and PPS take on a 'Zero tolerance' policy towards the illegal acts perpetrated by the scum of our society. Only the risk of being caught and properly punished will have the desired effect. We need to enforce the existing laws to the fullest extent, not create more ineffective bans that only punish the law abiding and leave the criminals in the same place that they are now. My suggestion to Tony Kelly and David Lacey would be to think harder before commenting further and proving that your ignorance on this subject is beyond all doubt. ,

I [bold]KILL[/bold] animals with an air-rifle, therefore, I must be a mindless, irresponsible thug. Conversely, I undertake pest control as part of wildlife management using an air rifle as the primary means of control. The distinction being that I ensure my '[italic]Killing[/italic] ' is deliberate, quick, and as humane as possible with due regard for [bold]ALL[/bold] safety aspects. All species '[italic]KILLED[/italic] ' are recognised by [bold]LAW[/bold] as quarry species and are dispatched legally and effectively. If I think that I can't achieve a single shot kill, then I will [bold]NOT[/bold] take the shot. I'd invite Mr Kelly to join me to witness the level of responsibility and safety I employ. Moreover, he may be surprised to learn that I am a fully trained marksman and high velocity rifle coach with over 30 years shooting experience and strongly advocate formal training for anyone using an air rifle, or any other firearm for that matter. This is where the government and the media fails in their responsibility - to promote safe and responsible shooting through effective training.

[quote][bold]Dave P[/bold] wrote: Here we go again with responsible people being blamed for the actions of a criminal minority. The only things that really need banning in this country are idiots and irresponsible journalists - which are all-to-often often one and the same.[/quote] My thoughts exactly - maybe journalists who do little or no research and do nothing more than just write rubbish to cover their own inabilities should also be banned ?

Peter, please have a word with Becky, she seems to be unable to read the part where [bold]'TARGET SHOOTING'[/bold] is mentioned in many of the airgun supporters replies, I shoot targets and do not hunt, even though fresh rabbit would be the organic option of choice when compared to battery farmed chicken etc. If Becky is a militant vegetarian I can understand her view, though not agree with it. If Becky is not a vegetarian then if she eats intensively farmed meat she is a hypocrite! By the way, DEFRA requires that land owners control pests, and if they don't there are severe financial penalties, particularly if the pests stray on to other land.

Peter, please have a word with Becky, she seems to be unable to read the part where [bold]'TARGET SHOOTING'[/bold] is mentioned in many of the airgun supporters replies, I shoot targets and do not hunt, even though fresh rabbit would be the organic option of choice when compared to battery farmed chicken etc. If Becky is a militant vegetarian I can understand her view, though not agree with it. If Becky is not a vegetarian then if she eats intensively farmed meat she is a hypocrite! By the way, DEFRA requires that land owners control pests, and if they don't there are severe financial penalties, particularly if the pests stray on to other land.

Another ill informed and biased comment, 99% of airguns are used by responsible people for vermin control and target shooting. Banning airguns will just help to kill another industry and stop law abiding citizens doing a service for the farming comunity. The thugs that are cruel to animals will probably not hand in their airguns as they have no respect for the law anyway, or they will find another way to do it.... Those of us that have airguns worth (sometimes) thousands of pounds will of course have them taken off us, just becouse of the actions of thugs and you. Farmers will then have to use other methods of vermin control (gas or poison) which can lead to indescriminate animal deaths if done incorrectly and in some cases undue suffering of the target species. Dont be nieve enough to jump on a very responsible pastime for many, just becouse you know nothing about it.

I object to being called a thug. i am 70 years old and have shot airguns in competition for over 30 years both indoor and out. there are many good clubs and individuals using airguns every week without causing injury or inconvenience to anyone. Would you ban football because of a small number of bad eggs?