Report to the People
27th June 2005
Get
Shot of Them
So
you’re bored and there’s nothing on telly.
What do you do? Go for a
pint? Read the paper? What
about phoning the fire brigade, falsely reporting a fire, then, when they turn
up, taking pot-shots at them from your window with an airgun?
You
or I might find it hard to believe, but there are some dangerous morons out
there for whom this sort of thing is a hobby.
Attacks
in Greenock and elsewhere underline the need to get tough and I back the First
Minister’s drive to go further than the plans unveiled at Westminster.
For
a start, would-be gunmen can get their hands on an air weapon far too easily.
We need, then, to make anyone who wants to buy one prove they have a
legitimate reason for wanting it.
And
what legitimate reason could you possibly have if you live, say, in the high
flats? Keeping the local badger
population down? Bagging a rabbit for your tea?
Come off it.
The
only exception is target shooting. Like
other individual sports such as snooker and boxing, it teaches young people
accuracy and self-discipline. Any
new laws, therefore, shouldn’t discourage it.
But,
if it protects the community, I’m sure genuine sportsmen would be happy to buy
their guns through their shooting club.
Making
our streets safer isn’t rocket science, it’s common sense.
If you don’t need it, get shot of it.
If you can’t prove why you want it, you’re not getting it.
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