Swoop. There was no rational defence after Dunblane. I'll tell you when the defence came about. It was after they were banned. And once they are banned, it is too late. These are the words from Sportsmans Association. Nobody believed it would really go through. They all sat on their arses and did nothing. There was no defence. Just like the ban on fullbore semi-automatic rifles in 88. This countries attitude stinks. When a threat comes through and it affects you negatively, you stand up and do something to help prevent that from happening. Just like they did in the Channel Islands.
I was in Jersey this summer (and very much looking forward to spending the majority of next year there!) shooting both Handguns and fullbore semi-automatic rifles. The reason they still have those disciplines legal, like the rest of Europe does is because when a threat comes in, they stand up and say no. Jersey has a population of 100,000 residents on the Island. 1/10 people own a gun. The Government over there announced because they had been banned over here. They were going to be banned in Jersey also. Thousands of people blocked the roads wanting to speak to the Government and it worked. Even though that leaves 9/10 people who don't own a gun, therefore it does not affect them and they do not care. These guy's obviously did and they spoke out. It worked.
As I said before. With all of these YouTube Channels bringing in Millions of viewer's... Several 100's of thousands of subscribers. If a petition was started in our defence. All you need is 100,000 signatures for it to be discussed by the Government. With all of this media coverage these Channels are getting, it can be easily reached. Organisations such as the Sportsmans Association have to deal with Anti's on a regular basis wanting to ban not only real guns, but also Paintball and Airsoft. They would support and I'm sure many other organisations would too. Retailer's who care more about the sport and our enjoyment than their own profit would do too... Those coming from abroad to play here. I'm sure many world wide will speak out saying they came to the U.K. for the Airsoft on an occasion and enjoy the top quality game play footage that can be seen online.
It has happened before. Several years ago now. In California they tried to pass a Bill 'SB798'. This would be bringing in a law stating that all Airsoft guns in California would have to be bright colour's 100%. Everybody would have to have those, no UKARA registered loophole like us or 51% two-tone etc... California is the main exporter of Airsoft guns in the states. Not only that, the sites in my opinion and many other's are incredible. I want to play there myself. If we had allowed to let this Bill to pass. It would have affected the Airsoft sales in the whole of America and for someone like me wanting to play in California. I would no longer want to go... People supported them world wide and that is how the Bill was beaten.
Simply sitting back and hoping it won't happen does not work as history proves. Whether we would win if we made a defence, we have no way of knowing right now. But history again does prove that if you atleast do something about it and make a defence, you can beat it, as has been done previously. Don't worry about what the rest of the nation thinks. Just focus on putting your opinions forward, what it is you want and protecting our sport.
Lift your bollocks up is the modern phrase now I believe...
That was you!? :L
