This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold.
I thought it was the British Broadcasting corporation. Typical, trial by media!
Signed ages ago, there are a lot of shooters who should be seriously looking at themselves right now.
I must apologise for the lateness in responding. I'm sure everyone is aware that the .22 petition ended with just over 22,000 signatures. Which unfortunately was not enough to be considered for debate in parliament. On behalf of Firearms UK I would like to thank everyone who supported the petition and shared it and Whilst we did not achieve our goal we did succeed in gathering just over 8,000 signatures more than the previous attempt which is itself an achievement.
The Next Step
In the build up the May election we actively encouraged supporters to contact candidates for their views on shooting, several gave favourable responses and have now been elected. This has formed the basis for our latest campaign to get .22 pistols legalised for target shooting once more.
BASC contacted the parliamentary candidates directly and produced a really useful list of candidates positions on firearms.
I and many others used it to help guide our voting.
When one of the proper shooting groups publicises such an initiative it may go forward but that would be a matter of timing. Not with a new government with major economic issues.
Newspaper headlines: Tory Toffs back Dunblane Murder Guns returned to defend rich from those in poverty.
Countryman wrote:BASC contacted the parliamentary candidates directly and produced a really useful list of candidates positions on firearms.
I and many others used it to help guide our voting.
When one of the proper shooting groups publicises such an initiative it may go forward but that would be a matter of timing. Not with a new government with major economic issues.
Newspaper headlines: Tory Toffs back Dunblane Murder Guns returned to defend rich from those in poverty.
22,000? BASC membership 110,000
BASC publicised this petition from the beginning on it's website and IIRC emailed the membership to encourage them to sign but it still only gathered 22000 signatures...
“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”
Yup there is a fundamental flaw in this. We missed the boat. This would have done much better in the immediate wake of the Olympics when our sport had profile, pride and pre economic turmoil going for it.
Our (too many) representative organisations are only now starting to embrace social media and really don't yet understand its potential.
Countryman we also contacted parliamentary candidates in addition to BASCs excellent efforts, we also asked specifically if they would support a return of .22 pistol shooting, several who gave a positive response are now elected and we will continue to work on this area.
BASC gave significant support to the petition, other organisations such as the Countryside Alliance, SACS, and the NRA also shared the petition in one form or another the organisations lead the way when it came to the ethos of unity. Something for which we are eternally grateful.
Why it achieved as little as 22,000 may perhaps be down to individuals unaware, unable or unwilling to sign.
I'm sorry but I do not wish to be drawn into debate which might be construed as endorsing what I see as a thoroughly discredited organisation.
Your organisations advocacy of the use of firearms for self defence puts you at odds with the wider sport shooting community and public at large.
I feel this has tainted your brand. I could not support anything that you undertook because discrediting anything you achieved would be so easy as to make everyone's contribution futile.
Thank you though for offering yourself up. However your perspective on our previous encounter just perplexes me. I was genuinely nothing but constructive. My language wholly rational although the efficacy of my points probably made your team uncomfortable.
That's fine Frank. This isn't the place for debate anyway, I simply wished to thank those that did support the petition and inform them of what we intend to do next.
I'm sure you will continue to fight the good fight in your own way although it would be most appreciated that even if you don't support us you are reasonable and do not try to hinder or damage our efforts, it serves no purpose other than to maintain division within the community. I would like to point out it's yourself that keeps talking about self defence. We are trying to talk about .22 pistols for sporting purposes and that has been made quite clear on several occasions.
Anyway you have made your position abundantly clear, ancient history, let's move on. We all have more important things to worry about than petty squabbles e.g getting .22 pistols back.
