Pistols: would you give up home storage to get them back?

[Erika]

The question that the politicians will be asking themselves before any repeal or amendment is what is in it for them politically. They don't have the courage to admit when they are wrong nor the political will to deal with a subject that will undoubtedly attract negative press from the traditional anti's and other sympathy groups.

Then it is up to a united shooting community to put forward the strong case that they will suffer if they do not act in accordance with our reasonable requests, shooters and firearms enthusiasts have votes afterall

[John MH]

There are not enough numbers to be able to affect a political party's seats unless marginal constituencies are targeted and I doubt very much that the repeal of an unpopular act amongst a small section of the population is going to garner enough votes to make a difference, either 'nationally' to the direction of any party's manifesto. This is so far down the scale of 'wants' or 'needs' for any party that even as a private members bill it would never get the time or support in parliment to get anywhere. Now if you could convince the current of future Home Secretary to support it that might make a difference, but would they be willing to commit political suicide?

[Erika]

There are not enough numbers to be able to affect a political party's seats unless marginal constituencies are targeted and I doubt very much that the repeal of an unpopular act amongst a small section of the population is going to garner enough votes to make a difference, either 'nationally' to the direction of any party's manifesto. This is so far down the scale of 'wants' or 'needs' for any party that even as a private members bill it would never get the time or support in parliment to get anywhere. Now if you could convince the current of future Home Secretary to support it that might make a difference, but would they be willing to commit political suicide?

Personally I think a start would be to stop calling; supporting lawful and reasonable sporting opportunities "political suicide", even if that is the case atm, the situation should be the complete opposite!

Shooting is well regarded by many in the UK and is a key feature at both the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics, we need to reach outside of our own community and engage non-shooters as well, those who consider such changes to be what they are, reasonable requests that make sense and should be acted upon. Across shooting over a million people engage in the shooting sports, that is a sizable number of people that does and should continue to exert an influence, in the same manner any other section of society does.

It is time we as a community stood up for ourselves, and acted more positively to both promote and defend our sports. Rather than assuming it won't work, why would you rather not lend support and help ensure it achieves a positive outcome? There are political representatives who support our aims, I am sure of that, they should be supported and encouraged to voice their support for shooting, as should anyone else who will stand publicly and promote the reasonable requests of firearms owners and sporting enthusiasts.

[dromia]

clapclap

The "can't doers" and the "we're doomed" attitudes will drag us down without any external interference.

[John MH]

So you admit that at the moment it would be political suicide for a politician to support repealing or amending the act that prohibited .22 pistols.

Good luck with your well intentioned quest, I feel this will wither like all previous attempts to get serious political recognition of the bad knee jerk legislation introduced in 1997, there is nothing in it for the main political parties and without them it's not going to change.

[John MH]

clapclap

The "can't doers" and the "we're doomed" attitudes will drag us down without any external interference.

Getting more people shooting is the way forward.

[dromia]

Getting more people owning guns is a way forward

[John MH]

Getting more people owning guns is a way forward

True, more venues, more matches, more good reason. :cheers:

[dromia]

More collectors. :shakeshout:

[Erika]

So you admit that at the moment it would be political suicide for a politician to support repealing or amending the act that prohibited .22 pistols.

Good luck with your well intentioned quest, I feel this will wither like all previous attempts to get serious political recognition of the bad knee jerk legislation introduced in 1997, there is nothing in it for the main political parties and without them it's not going to change.

Not at all, quite the opposite, my earlier post recognizes that you and others consider this to be political suicide, in contrast I do not support that view. However politicians are not going to even open a dialogue for discussion if we don't present a well reasoned and supported case for them to do so.

If this was in the US or Canada or even Australia the situation would likely be different, why is it so hard for UK shooters to act positively and mobilize themselves, to the benefit of their own sports?

A team of volunteers have already made progress behind the scenes and have gained public endorsement for the campaign by multiple organisations, to our knowledge this has not been achieved for some time, we are already very close to the first important milestone of 10,000 signatures. Rather than being negative, and in some ridiculous cases not supporting it because "it won't work" why not back it, support it, and do what you can to help it succeed. A more diverse and inclusive body of shooting sports which can mobilize their memberships in a more united effort is only good for the sport and may yield significant benefits to everyone involved over time... but ultimately, with regard to the petition its success will come down to individuals taking it up and supporting it.

The opportunity is here to take a simple action in support of shooting and of fellow shooters, to act in a more united fashion to promote and defend shooting, why not take it? Many of those negative of the petition, only one aspect of the campaign or the campaign itself spend much more time trying to disrupt positive efforts than would be taking up by signing and sharing the petition.

If anyone has any ideas to help ensure the success of the campaign share them with us, or take it upon yourselves, but what will fail the petition more than anything is quite obvious, people not signing it, so why not sign it?

Even if you were guaranteed that nothing will change when we hit 100,000 signatures, can you not recognize that having 100,000 confirmed individuals publicly standing for shooting with the backing of a multitude of organisations within the industry is a very good thing, and gives a very clear message to those who would love to marginalize us further that we care about our sports and will act to defend them.

To add; yes getting more people into shooting is a very positive and important way to enhance and defend shooting sports, but that action is not mutually exclusive, and actions such as our Unity campaign can in fact encourage even more into shooting. I find it hard to believe there are many who would be put off by entering the shooting sports if they could legally should pistols if they wishes; those people would surely enter other disciplines, however I have encountered both personal friends and supporters of Firearms UK who are only interested in pistols, and with that not being available to them have little interest currently to engage in the sport as a whole.