The Sportsman's Association
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
In this article, Mr Hamzic said that he had
interviewed a 16 year-old boy, a self confessed gang leader from
a housing estate in east London, who showed him his 9mm Smith
and Wesson pistol. The boy also stated to Mr Hamzic that "Nobody
messes with me, they know I'm too dangerous". He also stated
that he was prepared to use his weapon if he, his gang or his
"territory" were threatened.
Mr Hamzic also interviewed a 14 year old boy
who showed him that he was carrying two .357 Magnum revolvers
in his school bag.
We spoke to Mr Hamzic, he was not aware that
he was speaking to The Sportsman's Association, and asked him
whether or not he had passed the information he had gained to
the police. Mr Hamzic stated that:
(b) the police had not requested any information
from him;
(c) he had no intention of volunteering any
information to the police;
(d) if the police were to request information
on the boys' names and addresses, he would do whatever he could
to protect his sources.
Mr Hamzic also stated that, in his opinion,
the children would not use the weapons that they had in their
possession!
If the assertions made by Mr Hamzic in his article
are true and that youngsters are in illegal possession of illegal
firearms for illegal purposes, what are the police going to do
about it? These youngsters may not actually represent any threat
at all to society but what they are doing is illegal and should
be stopped forthwith. Even if they are only using deactivated
pistols, if they are intending to frighten people with them then
their actions are illegal under one of the recent Firearms (Amendment)
Acts.
Much reference has been made in the press and
elsewhere to the supposed "gun culture" that was developing
in our country. We, the sporting shooters, have always maintained
that we no more have a gun culture than we have a golf culture,
at least amongst the legitimate sporting users of firearms. If
there is a gun culture, it must exist amongst the criminal classes
and amongst these youngsters. Our newspapers now regularly feature
stories of shootings and violent activity in our major towns and
cities. Such shootings involve automatic weapons (banned in this
country since 1936 but obviously available) and pistols (also
banned by virtue of the latest laws). Clearly, the firearms laws
are not being enforced adequately.
This Association has, over the last few days,
contacted various offices of your organisation only to be passed
from one department to another. Nobody seemed inclined to take
any action whatsoever and we were finally referred to your Lime
House Police Station where a Police Constable of the DIU took
details. This response must be contrasted with the zeal with which
your service took action to enforce the confiscation of the legally
held firearms from law-abiding citizens following the Firearms
(Amendment) Acts 1997.
We feel that, in the interests of public safety,
the police should take action on this matter immediately. Not
to do so would be a mistake of mammoth proportions. We have already
seen what can happen when the police "turn a blind eye"
to this sort of circumstance as was shown in the tragic shootings
at Dunblane in March 1996.
We, the dispossessed legal shooters, require
to be reassured that the State is indeed "cracking down"
on the illegal use of firearms. Anything else would be an unacceptable
mockery of the law. Even though we disagreed with the Firearms
(Amendment) Acts 1997 we complied with the provisions with, on
the whole, remarkably good grace. Our behaviour has shown that
we are indeed the decent, law-abiding citizens that we claimed
to be.
The legitimate shooters have always stated that
they would be delighted to co-operate with the police to help
to eliminate the illegal use of firearmswhich is the area
of concern that, in our opinion, represents the greatest threat
of firearms misuse. We need to be convinced that the police will
take appropriate action on the matter. Your response to this letter
could help.
Please note that, as the Sportsman's Association
represents a large number of sporting shooters, and this subject
is of considerable interest to them all, we shall be publishing
this correspondence on our Website and on our e-mail and FAX networks.
R V Malbon
Director, The Sportsman's Association
1 October 1999
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