Rifle clubs, MPs and politics

[Mezzer]

[quote="paxtond"]Blu, as you can see were are rely up against it.

I think the biggest diffrence is you have the 2nd amendment, we don't.

One of my club members said to me the other day "I doubt you will be able to shoot through your retirement" although it was a sad thing to hear I do fear that in the 40 years they will snatch them away.

Maybe as a team full bore uk could look in to getting something of the ground, I would be happy to throw up some money.
[/quotePaxtond

Paxtond

I'm not convinced that the UK itself will survive if it keeps going the way it is and as such, I think that whether or not we'll still be shooting in 40 years time is a moot point. The question we should really be asking is ' will we still have a country worth living in and fighting for?

In the past I've worn a uniform for my country. That was then but under no circumstances would I do it now purely because the whole 'game' has changed. Why would anyone want to put their lives on the line for so-called leaders who are only (and always) in it for themselves and who are prepared to dispense with such trivialities as honesty, integrity and sense of fair play for the sake of a few extra votes? Maybe it's just me being too old-fashioned but hey ... there's nothing wrong with having ideals to live by.

Over to you guys for comments!

Mezzer

[Blu]

Blu, as you can see were are rely up against it.

I think the biggest diffrence is you have the 2nd amendment, we don't.

One of my club members said to me the other day "I doubt you will be able to shoot through your retirement" although it was a sad thing to hear I do fear that in the 40 years they will snatch them away.

Maybe as a team full bore uk could look in to getting something of the ground, I would be happy to throw up some money.

I understand what you are saying but if nothing is done about it then you could lose your firearms in time. Each stunt the government be it local or central pulls has to be challenged and if needs be challenged in court all the way up to the House of Lords if that's what it takes.

Even with the Second Amendment the NRA here still has to fight battles in court when the antis try stripping it away piece by piece. Here in the US it's a never ending battle against the tw@ts but it's a battle we will not let them win. At this moment in time the NRA is in court with California because each week it seems they are banning this or that type of ammunition. We will prevail and win over every challenge they present..

Blu

[Chuck]

What the real NRA are up to - and up against - right now:

http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/artic ... reaty.aspx

[paxtond]

I agree the nra need to pull their finger out, a friend has just gone through the probation course and yeh it seems like they are just set up to take as much £ they can off shooters.

It it wasn't a requirement to shoot at bisley, I would ditch my membership

I agree with some of the comments in this thread and I doubt we will ever get pistols back and semi autos are never ever coming back, but as blu said we need to protect what we still have.

[Mezzer]

Lets be honest with ourselves. Our UK NRA is NOT the answer .... and the sheer diversity of the honoury members / committees etc listed at the front end of the NRA journals / Bisley Bibles should provide more than enough evidence of that. That is not to decry the good work that they do in other areas however.

I would propose a small group of individuals with sufficent skills including excellent PR and legal matters, all of whom should be shooters of some discipline or another. These would be full-time positions (funded by membership fees). This group would be focused entirely on shooters rights and the changing of public perception of shooting to a more positive image.
They must be ready at all times to aggressively counter any bad press or negative proposals put out by the anti-gun lobbies in such a manner that the originators of this nonsense will know that a very robust response is guaranteed. Clearly, there will be a need at times for subject matter experts in the various shooting disciplines to contribute their respective knowledge in support of the group's activities but this should not be a problem. After all, we have plenty of talent out there.

This group would not be involved in arranging training, range days, competitions or any of those types of activities. These are distractions and would not be part of the groups remit ... and besides, that is exactly why the NRA / BSAC / NSRA organisations exist (and something that they are good at).

So, a small dedicated full-time group whose sole function is looking after our rights. What's not to like? I for one would support such an organisation be it with time, effort or by putting my hand in my wallet.

Anyone else up for it?

Mezzer

[honsu]

Guys go check out Firearms UK they have been mentioned on here before they are a new group amid at supporting all shooting disciplines as well as shooting rights.

If some one could link there web and face book pages that would be great[my tec fu is weak to day ]


:flag5: zzzzom zzzzom zzzzom zzzzom

[paxtond]

http://firearmsuk.org

[Gaz]

So we reckon this Firearms UK group could be the new public-facing "voice of shooting" and the legal campaign group we need to fund legal challenges against (first and foremost, in my humble opinion) the police's attempts to make life ever more difficult for us through inappropriately restrictive interpretations of the firearms acts.

Blu - I'm with you, we need a UK equivalent of the NRAILA but I reckon the problems with it will be the things I've posted. What I'm trying to get at is, how can us UK shooters get around the inbuilt apathy? I mean the US NRA manages it and you say ordinary shooters are as fragmented as we are. The question is, how do they unite such a divided bunch? Do they offer them all a free bag of ammo on signing up or something?

[Blu]

The question is, how do they unite such a divided bunch? Do they offer them all a free bag of ammo on signing up or something?

Free bag of ammo :lol: I like that. Gaz the NRA doesn't have to do anything mate except fight for our rights, that's a part of what we pay them for, despite the fact that we as shooters are fragmented into the various disciplines, US shooters recognise one fact and that fact is that the government and the antis won't be happy until the guns are gone, all the guns. Not just AR's or pistols or shotguns, I mean any firearm in private ownership. That is the one thing that unites the sportsmen over here mate and until folks in the UK recognise this fact instead of adopting the mentality of 'It doesn't affect me because I don't shoot it' you folks are your own worst enemy.

I applaud the folks at firearmsuk for what they do, things is though petitions ain't gonna cut the mustard. Online petitions, I don't think they get the time they merit by the politicians, in fact I don't think the government takes any notice of them. The only thing they understand is action, especially when that action is aimed at them. If you folks want to further and keep your chosen sport then you are going to have to get organised and active, by that I mean mounting legal challenges in court, lobbying MP's, countering bad press, educating the public and getting them involved, there is a lot to it but it can be done.

I'm still waiting to see who will take Mezzer up on his challenge, I'm surprised it's been as quiet as it has response wise but then saying that I'm not that surprised.

Blu

[the running man]

The firearms uk website is good and a great starting point (ide probably change the name a bit for pr purposes) and its a good step, ide hope they can soon offer shooting insurance which will be the first big step, ide change to them if they did, so would a lot of others.

What we really need then is for the officially recognised body to be changed from the nra to this new group, until the bisley/nra council is shaken up , we wont see any change from them.

The nra staff have of late done sterling work and I would hope to head hunt a few of them, but at present they can only work within there remit, which seems to be target rifle orientated. This is a great shame as bisley would serve well if it was not set up the way it is, and the way it is set up makes things vertually impossible to change....

No doubt the nra will be watching this thread and possibly making comments or even corrections, but to that in defense of the 100+ shooters I see every week I say this, you are not held in any esteem and many would go further in a negative way.....

For the record I support all shooters In all thier chosen disciplines, I consider all of them the same, a shame others cannot...