Typical bleedin' knee jerk reaction

[Grumpmeister]

Why is it whenever something like this is proposed there is an automatic knee jerk reaction from people convinced that teaching someone how to shoot responsibly is going to lead to an increase in gun crime.

Dont get me wrong, I'm against gun crime but a lot of these moronic gang members who go round carrying guns do it as much for a fashion accessory and for the 'cool' tag as for actually using it and as such are stupid enough to actually pull the trigger for little or no reason.

Plans to build a rifle range at a new £23m education academy in Bristol are at the centre of a row.
The Merchant Venturers is the main sponsor of the new academy, planned for the site of the old Withywood School.

It said the range would be part of a cadet force for out-of-hours activities, and would help discipline.

Dennis Burn, from the Venturers, said: "Parents and young people want an exciting programme of activity outside school hours."

He added: "The cadet force is well placed to do this. We will also be doing lots of other things.

"Being involved in such a rich programme of activities will help these young people to be the sort who do not get involved in gun crime."

The academy is scheduled to replace Withywood School, which had the city's worst GCSE results last year.

It will have more than 900 pupils when it opens in September.

But one parent, spoken to by the BBC near the school, said: "It would be teaching them to use firearms and encouraging them to go around shooting people."

Another added: "It's not a good idea. I don't trust them with guns, especially in this area."

The range is likely to use air and .22 calibre rifles.

Oh please, I was an army cadet back in the day and did my share of range days using rifles a hell of a lot more powerful than the ones planned for here and I didnt develop an uncontrollable urge to go off and shoot someone. That was because the training was done responsibly and first of all we were made very much aware of the damage a bullet could do to someone.

Geoff Doe, from the National Small-bore Rifle Association, said there were 4,000 cadet units in the country, many of which were attached to schools including Eton.

"Films, TV and video games all glamorise shooting. By having a person properly introduced to it, taught and controlled, it demystifies the gun.

Work on the academy has begun

"The sport is being blamed for the ills of society. This is wrong. It is an Olympic sport."

He also pointed out the then sports minister Richard Caborn backed rifle shooting in schools in May 2007 and said this may have led to a increase in schools taking an interest in shooting.

The Reverend Dawnicia Palmer, from Mothers Against Weapons and Violence, told the BBC: "There are other things the kids could be good at.

"They should put their energies into something more responsible."

[Snoopy]

Guns don't kill people anymore than cars kill people.
People kill people.
Responsible teaching of firearms handling and usage will do more good than harm.
Few if any of the people carrying illegal firearms have had any training in their use. The knee jerk banning of firearms by Government has not resulted in one single life being saved, in fact more guns are on the streets now than before Dunblane.

I held a "Marksman" badge throughout my RAF career and have both been shot at and fired back. It was not pleasant and gave me no pleasure. It was part of the job.

[Grumpmeister]

The problem is that people look at a suggestion like this and see 'AMERICA - GUN CRME CAPITAL OF THE WORLD' appear in neon lights. I'm not making light of the fact that we have gun crime here, far from it. But a ban on firearms obviously hasnt worked so why not try training schoolkids responsibly.

[Mr Happy]

I'll stick my head above the parrott pit and disagree.  I have no doubt that target shooting requires skill and calmness but we are talking about a diffrerent environment here.  I'm not suggesting that kids will make the leap from rifle to murder but or do i think it will teach discipline.

Bad kids are the product of bad parenting.  Fighting for attention, destructive behaviour is noticed.  Computer games, though again not a cause, are often babysitters.  Kids have no patience, little reasoning or thoughtful process and tend to destroy what they don't understand. Remorse, not a chance.

For me a rifle range would be another area in which chaos rules.  Better to spend the money on giving a few selected people the armory and a 007 license...