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BRITISH
SHOOTING SPORTS COUNCIL – UNITED KINGDOM If, at
the personal level of the perpetrator and the victim, there are two ‘sides’
then as a Police Officer who devoted over thirty years service to public safety
I have seen both sides at first hand. But
here today in this Conference I do not believe there are any ‘sides’.
All of us stand against the illicit.
The people for whom I speak, i.e. the legal firearms community, support
the desire of this Conference to reduce, if not eliminate, suffering caused by
armed conflict. However,
in pursuing that noble objective those same people would not want you to
unwittingly make legitimate hunters and sporting shooters victims of the
process. They are not the problem,
but could be part of the solution. Hunters
and sporting shooters hold a wealth of technical knowledge which would be
helpful to all of us – not only in respect of marking and recording, but also
in other facets of the Proposed Program of Action. Like
many of you I am a parent and grandparent.
I have no wish to see any of your or my offspring suffer in whatever
context. Equally
I wish my children and grandchildren to peacefully enjoy their heritage and to
continue to participate in activities which have a long and honourable history. I urge
you to fight the illicit wherever it appears and offer the full support of those
for whom I speak in your efforts. But
in so doing I also urge you not to damage legitimate hunting and sporting
shooting. I
believe that in the preamble you should acknowledge the legitimate use or
possession of firearms by individuals for, inter alia, hunting, sport shooting
and collecting and you should ensure that nothing in the Program of Action
should diminish or affect such interests or rights. Patrick
W Johnson British
Shooting Sports Council PO Box
11 Bexhill
on Sea England
TN40 1AH Tele/Fax
0044 (0) 1424 217031 Email patjbssc@aol.com |