UK law currently allows a child of any age to use a shotgun to kill animals for pleasure.

Last April, parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee warned the government that an age threshold of somewhere between 12 and 14 had to be introduced, but the government rejected the age-limit recommendation following pressure from a gun lobby eager to recruit more youngsters into their 'sport'.

Animal Aid has published a new investigation into the children-and-guns issue. Entitled 'Young Blood', the report calls upon the government to act promptly and decisively to keep firearms out of the hands of children. I urge readers to write to their MP asking them to support this call for action.

'Young Blood' also details the unsavoury recruiting methods used by the shooting lobby to attract children, some of whom are barely old enough to lift a firearm.

Depressed by the downturn in the number of shotgun owners and users in England and Wales in the wake of the 1987 Hungerford shooting and the Dunblane massacre of 1996, the gun enthusiasts are resorting to desperate measures.

Letters pages in shooting magazines frequently feature proud parents describing how they facilitated their child's first kill, along with photos showing children (in one instance aged five) posing with guns alongside neatly arranged dead birds. 'Shooting Times' runs a regular feature about child shooters called 'Next Generation'.

The 'Young Blood' report and full background on the pheasant shooting industry can be downloaded from the Animal Aid website at www.animalaid.org.uk

Andrew Tyler

Director, Animal Aid

December 5, 2001 13:04