Wales - Gun laws blasted after child, 10, given shotgun licence

[Gunreference1]

Gun laws blasted after child, 10, given shotgun licence

Dec 26 2010 by Ciaran Jones, Wales On Sunday

MORE than 250 Welsh children hold shotgun certificates – including one child aged just 10.

The figures were revealed as MPs said gun law is “a mess” and called for a review on the minimum-age limits on the use of firearms.

The head of a leading Welsh children’s charity said allowing kids as young as 10 to have a shotgun certificate was a “risky venture”.

To read the rest of the story click the link below.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wa...1466-27885868/

Steve

[Charliebravo]

I started shooting at 5 or 6, then got my first shotgun for Christmas about a month after I turned 8. Then again, I was surrounded by responsible men who taught me how to handle a firearm properly.

[Joey]

British firearms laws are more complex that many here believe. I've noticed a tissue of lies put about this forum about Britain being disarmed. It's simply not true and makes me smile each time I read it.

The truth is there's a damn great pile of legal weaponry in circulation, particularly in the UK countryside. The main differences with the US are (a) the weapons are held mainly by upper middle class or aristocratic Brits. It's more democratic and, as a result, healthier imo, in the States; and (b) legal handguns and big calibre rifles are mostly absent in Britain. I'm not entirely sure about rifles - they're covered by the Firearms Certificate - but suspect they're mainly .22s with a few larger calibres for deer on the Scots estates.

[Mr. Rodgers]

British firearms laws are more complex that many here believe. I've noticed a tissue of lies put about this forum about Britain being disarmed. It's simply not true and makes me smile each time I read it.

The truth is there's a damn great pile of legal weaponry in circulation, particularly in the UK countryside. The main differences with the US are (a) the weapons are held mainly by upper middle class or aristocratic Brits. It's more democratic and, as a result, healthier imo, in the States; and (b) legal handguns and big calibre rifles are mostly absent in Britain. I'm not entirely sure about rifles - they're covered by the Firearms Certificate - but suspect they're mainly .22s with a few larger calibres for deer on the Scots estates.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Rifles with a bore diameter larger than .22 have to be kept at a gun club armory? Handguns are strictly verboten with the exception of black powder handguns? Only double barrel shotguns may be legally purchased? The last time I was in the U.K. was 1960. It was a bit of a different country then. It seems unlikely that British parents would allow a 10 year old to take to the field without supervision.

[Blacksmith]

IMHO
10 is way late to get started. My son was shooting 22s from the time he was old enough to talk. by 6 he was shooting my AK. By 10 he knew how to use every firearm in the safe.

[El Jefe]

Odd that some are crapping their pants over this, I had both a rifle and a shotgun when I was 10 and I never shot anyone or had an accidental discharge. Both of my sons hunt and shoot and it hasn't been a problem.

[Gunreference1]

Bid to stop children as young as 10 gaining gun licence

MICHAEL SETTLE, UK POLITICAL EDITOR
28 Dec 2010

A Labour MP has tabled a parliamentary Bill at Westminster in a bid to stop children as young as 10 from being issued with shotgun licences.

The move by Thomas Docherty, who represents Dunfermline and West Fife, follows information that in September this year 4899 children in England and Wales had shotgun licences, including 26 10-year-olds and 72 11-year-olds.

To read the rest of the story click the link below.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/h...ence-1.1076763

Steve