Conor O'Gorman Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 BASC featured in hundreds of local and regional papers around the country over the weekend following the annual release of Home Office statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates. We welcomed the continued high numbers of participation, with over 580,000 certificate holders in England and Wales, and how our legislation allows shooting disciplines to flourish while protecting public safety. https://basc.org.uk/strong-participation-in-shooting-sports-highlighted/ Unfortunately, the Press Association ignored our warnings and led with the opposing, fear-mongering story from the Gun Control Network. Choosing bad news over good news is an easy but lazy form of journalism and we shall be writing to the PA to ensure our irritation is fully acknowledged. Our work continues to publicise the significant participation levels and the benefits that result from shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 Good, it would be wonderful to actually have a "level playing field" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akey Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) It would be nice if the papers or anyone actually challenged the claims by the GCN, I saw one report where a member of GCN, and retired Criminology professor stated that S1 shotguns and .22 rim fire were commonly used in mass shootings, the pictures that accompanied the article had images of banned firearms in the UK to make it appear as if this is what was being discussed. I have challenged the paper to provide some statistics to back up these claims, but I wont hold my breath ! Edited July 27, 2020 by akey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 Again, an extremist group with few members gets the upper hand over a large, professional (?) group with a purpose built media centre and we’re playing catch up.....again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor O'Gorman Posted July 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Scully said: Again, an extremist group with few members gets the upper hand over a large, professional (?) group with a purpose built media centre and we’re playing catch up.....again. Unfortunately there is fertile ground in the UK for those that have an anti-shooting agenda to have such an impact. Papers will much more avidly pick up an anti shooting slant than a positive one. But we must keep at it and each of us can make the effort individually to do something about it and not just leave it to the shooting organisations, or worse, use that keyboard time to be critical on a forum. Perhaps like Akey above you could write to your local newspaper, if they covered this story, putting them right? Let us know how you got on please. Edited July 27, 2020 by Conor O'Gorman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Scully said: Again, an extremist group with few members gets the upper hand over a large, professional (?) group with a purpose built media centre and we’re playing catch up.....again. +1. It's about time "the authoritative voice of shooting" stopped bleating or asking members to do X, Y and Z when most of us now when renewal time approaches will be too busy writing letters to GPs to ask for the additional medical input that BASC still will not take to judicial review and started actually using some of it's money to pay for full page adverts challenging the GCN. Heck there's more members in my village Womens' Institute than in the entire GCN. Edited July 27, 2020 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor O'Gorman Posted July 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 1 minute ago, enfieldspares said: +1. It's about time "the authoritative voice of shooting" stopped bleating and started actually using some of it's money to pay for full page adverts challenging the GCN. Heck there's more members in my village Womens' Institute than in the entire GCN. -1 As per my comment to Scully - please get involved and let us know how you got on with your local newspaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 2 hours ago, Conor O'Gorman said: Unfortunately there is fertile ground in the UK for those that have an anti-shooting agenda to have such an impact. Papers will much more avidly pick up an anti shooting slant than a positive one. But we must keep at it and each of us can make the effort individually to do something about it and not just leave it to the shooting organisations, or worse, use that keyboard time to be critical on a forum. Perhaps like Akey above you could write to your local newspaper, if they covered this story, putting them right? Let us know how you got on please. I’ve done it many times Conor, much more than you’ll ever know; Home Office, local newspapers, national newspapers and local radio....I had to, because my shooting representation ( BASC ) were completely useless; their only advice was to keep a low profile! And people ask why I left! 😳 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor O'Gorman Posted July 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2020 A BASC letter has been published in the Southern Daily Echo https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18616455.letter---uk-strick-firearm-legislation/ Please keep writing to your local papers and let us know how you got on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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