Shoot guns in a club, not at animals
10:58am Friday 5th January 2007 in Comment By Readers' Letter
I REFER to the letter in Saturday's edition from Chris Bessell, "Guns are safe in the right hands", in reply to my letter of the preceding Tuesday.
I must say that I agree with everything you add, except perhaps for the last bit: "Please don't criticise what you plainly don't understand."
Being the secretary of two local sports leagues myself, I am all for clubs of every description and variety, and encouraging the young to participate in such activities alongside adults.
People who opt for shooting at gun clubs and the highly disciplined training involved are doing themselves a favour in increasing abilities such as hand-to-eye co-ordination, as well as training and working together as a team. That does take a lot of dedication as well as intelligence.
Maybe it did not come across too well that my criticism was solely against those who appear to think it is macho to take a gun into a public place and take pot shots at the local wildlife and people's pets.
It is towards them that my disparaging remarks are directed.
Perhaps my last sentence should have read: "The sooner the shooting of animals is confined to history books, the better." I hope that clarifies the position.
Roy Caswell, Beverley Road, Bolton
