Big bang theory

PERHAPS because I grew up in Northern Ireland in the Seventies, I have always had an aversion to guns. When my sons were little, they weren't allowed toy rifles or pistols or anything that fired bullets. So they made them out of sticks. They built them from Lego bricks. They even used bananas.

Eventually, I relented and got them pop guns, then water pistols. It seemed a small step from there to cowboy pistols and holsters.

Before I knew it, we had such a huge armoury of weapons and ammunition we could easily have invaded a small foreign country.

While I'm not sure I agree with Tory peer Norman Tebbit when he said recently that young boys have a need for a degree of violence (sounds too much like a convenient excuse to me), I do concede that there is a dynamic physicality about the way they play.

They love action, they love competition, they enjoy the thrill of a physical challenge. And they have excess energy to burn.

Lord Tebbit went on to add, controversially, that teenage boys should be taught how to shoot in order to learn how to behave responsibly around guns.

His call was intended as a radical answer to spiralling gun crime among inner city teenagers.

However, my boys . William, 16, Charlie, 14 and Patrick, 12 . are far from hardened gangsters. I am taking them for a clay pigeon shooting lesson because they want to have fun.

Warren Gill Shooting Ground, near Masham, sits in the peaceful countryside of North Yorkshire on a beautiful 20-acre site, set in a narrow, wooded valley that is teeming with wildlife.

Instructor Ann Elgie launches straight into a talk on gun safety. This is serious stuff. No nonsense. A reality check. She informs the boys that they must always carry their gun open and empty of cartridges, so everyone can see there is no threat.

And before they shoot, they must remember to look down the barrel every time and check it is clear. If it is blocked with mud or debris, they have created a bomb, she tells them. Their faces are full of concentration.

I am hoping that something that Lord Tebbit said about shooting lessons teaching boys how to vent aggression while learning discipline and the ability to listen and take instruction will rub off. "They learn to take responsibility for their actions," he said.

Ann makes it clear that safety comes before being able to hit your target. "I am trying to frighten you a little bit. It's not a toy, it's a gun," she says. "We are very strict, very safety conscious. This is an implement that can kill somebody. I have to be very firm."

We are clearly in good hands here. Ann's husband Dave, who has more than 45 years experience, is one of the finest shots in the country. A former builder who was raised on a farm, he gave up his job to set up Warren Gill five years ago after many years of coaching at shoots and giving private, one-to-one lessons.

He taught Ann, who used to work in export, 25 years ago. "I used to go on clay pigeon shoots with him. It was a case of join in or sit in the car and watch. I enjoyed it," she says. Along with their son Ross, 26, they are now all qualified instructors.

Their family-run business now attracts people from all over the country. It's an activity popular with stag parties and for corporate, team-building exercises. Women are, increasingly, also wanting to learn. Ann reckons they are good pupils. "Women really listen to what you say. A man doesn't want you to know he can't do it, he knows. Sometimes he isn't really listening," she confesses.

The children's lessons, more for boys than girls, are becoming more popular she says, with youngsters from as young as about 12 signing up for lessons. Some are from farming or shooting families. But many young novices are arriving from towns, often when they're here holidaying at nearby caravan parks.

In a half-hour lesson, beginners will fire around 25 cartridges at clays . saucer-sized targets fired from hidden radio-controlled traps to simulate the flight of game birds. It takes about six lessons, we're told, to get the hang of it.

My boys are given their protective clothing .

waistcoats with padded leather shoulders, ear defenders and hats. Children use smaller-calibre shotguns, along with subsonic ammunition, which has half the recoil of a standard cartridge.

I watch as, in turn, and under the reassuringly close supervision of Ann, they raise the gun to their shoulders. "Pull" shouts Ann and the clay rises from the ground and is fired across the sky.

They follow it with the gun, sighting along the barrel as they've been shown. You can almost hear the rush of adrenalin. Sometimes they miss it. But then, bang. It is shattered into smithereens. They're thrilled. I can't help feeling pleased.

Ann gives them advice on how to perfect their aim and time their shots better. They need a keen eye and quick reactions. Every time one of those little black circles explodes into a cloud of black dust, there are smiles all round.

"It is a discipline. They have to listen. They are learning something. They are enjoying what they are doing and they do surprise you. We often have them grinning from ear to ear when they leave,"

says Ann.

THE boys are at the beginners' shots but other targets at Warren Gill simulate game shooting with clays zipping head-on, crossing in both directions and heading away. Each trap throws the clay at a different speed and angle, simulating everything from grouse and driven pheasant to bolting rabbit and springing teal.

For the more experienced shooter, there is the challenge of a staggering 60 metre high target. But that is all for another day. For now, the boys are pleased with what they have achieved.

Teenagers and weapons can be a lethal combination and there is no doubt a loaded gun can appear dangerously attractive. But I am tempted to agree with Lord Tebbit when he argues that learning to shoot, in the right environment, can be character forming.

Today, the boys have learnt nothing but respect for the shotgun. And as they walk back to the shooting lodge, carrying their open, and empty, guns ever so carefully, I can't help thinking that they look just that little bit older then when we arrived.

* Warren Gill Shooting Ground, Carter Ings Farm, Fearby Cross, Masham, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 4NE. 01765-689232, www.warrengill.co.uk Beginners' clay pigeon shooting lesson: 25 clays £30, 50 clays £50.