jamesmarchington

If this goes ahead, I'd be keen to cover it for a feature in Sporting Shooter.

Yes, in practice they do seem to enforce a set of 'guidelines'. I wonder if they've ever been challenged on the legality of that. I've encountered some FEOs who know enough to have a valid opinion, and others who need it pointed out which is a shotgun and which a rifle!

As I see it, we are currently heading towards a ban on lead shot and bullets, which will likely take effect 1-3 years from now. Defra want it, RSPB want it, and the antis want anything that causes us trouble. Currently BASC appear to be going along with the process - perhaps they've decided it's inevitable, and feel this is their best chance of minimising the damage. If you're ok with that, do nothing. If you're not, now is the time to make a fuss - by the time legislation is being drawn up, it will be too late. Perhaps I'm being too alarmist about this, but I don't think so. If it all comes to nothing, then feel free to pull my leg about it in a few years time!

Since when did it become the police's job to determine what gun is suitable for what quarry? Is this role set out for them in the Firearms Acts? Surely their only concern is public safety. Or did I miss something?

Thanks - I've occasionally browsed through to see what are the latest hot topics, but I thought it was time I joined in! This is a difficult one and no mistake. Not least because, not having any real experience of pheasant breeding/rearing, I find the descriptions of the various systems rather confusing (and of course everyone talks up the worst aspects of the system they're arguing against). Actually, I used to help my dad with a few hundred birds he reared up from day-olds at home, but that was 30 years ago and more! I'm in two minds about washing our dirty linen in public. These things need to be debated, but it bothers me to hear respected names in the sport/industry/call it what you will, using language that I just know will appear in the next masterpiece from numpties like Kit Davidson of Animal Aid. Personally (and I do mean personally, this is nothing to do with the magazine) I gaze into the crystal ball and find it hard to see driven shooting as we know it now still being around in 10 or 20 years time. Like it or not, I think we'll have gone all Ray Mears, hunting wild birds with our eco-friendly non-lead, low emission cartridges, and rushing off to the Department of Natural Resources to fill in our bag report, or enter the draw for another deer tag. Or have I just been hitting the sloe gin a bit too hard? There's no doubt it's the urban majority that calls the shots these days, and trust me they will not turn their backs and say, sure you look like you know what you're doing, just carry on - the antis will make sure of that. Town-dwellers are not all anti-shooting by any means, and they do like their burgers, but they do expect to see it done responsibly and transparently. And I believe that, sooner or later, cages will have to go. Which I guess means I have more in common with BASC's stance on this one. I'll admit I sometimes find their tone of voice a touch authoritarian (sorry David, Simon), but on this occasion I'm finding the game farming interests are coming across downright boorish. I'm trying to separate out, in my mind, my views on the argument itself versus the way the different parties have argued their case. Underneath all the bluster there's a real issue of 'right' and 'wrong' here. But each time someone uses an argument that rankles, I find it harder to see the wood for the trees. I seem to have used a lot of words to say not a lot, but this is a very complicated issue. If nothing else, I take heart from the fact that we're all getting so passionate about it, because that means we care - about the birds, and about our sport.

Yup, and on press day too! Seriously though, this is an important issue that goes right to the heart of whether we retain the public 'licence to operate'.