Memorandum submitted by the British Shooting
Sports Council
1. SUMMARY:
(a) It is more effective to legislate for the
person than the gun.
(b) Shooting is a well-established, popular and
safe participation sport.
(c) There is no long-term good quality data on
firearms misuse, but gun crime is decreasing.
(d) Firearms legislation is enabling as well
as preventative.
(e) A consolidating act is desirable: a full
review of legislation is not.
(f) "Tagging" of medical records raises
security and effectiveness issues.
(g) Airgun crime has been very significantly
reduced by existing legislation.
THE BSSC
2. The BSSC is an umbrella body, bringing
together the 12 major Associations for target shooting, quarry
shooting and the gun trade to achieve consensus on issues affecting
the shooting sports and is a non-profit making body financed by
members' subscriptions.
3. These Associations are:
Association of Professional Clay Target Shooting
Grounds.
Association of Professional Shooting Instructors.
British Association for Shooting and Conservation.
Clay Pigeon Shooting Association.
Institute of Clay Shooting Instructors.
Muzzle Loaders Association of Great Britain.
National Rifle Association.
National Smallbore Rifle Association.
Sportsman's Association of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association.
4. The objective of the BSSC is to promote
and safeguard the lawful use of firearms and air weapons for sporting
and recreational purposes in the United Kingdom amongst all sections
of society. The foundation of the Council's stance is that the
more effective and efficient approach is to legislate for the
person, not the gun.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW
OF SHOOTING
IN BRITAIN
5. Shooting is one of the most popular participation
sports. An estimated one million people in the UK shoot and the
number of young people entering the sport is increasing. 1,200
entered BASC's Young Shots scheme in six months in 2007, while
the Scout Association's annual rifle competition attracts nearly
800 competitors. The National Smallbore Rifle Association has
over 12,000 registered instructors on its Sport England funded
Youth Proficiency Scheme. National Rifle Association Open Days
are so successful that the numbers applying to take part have
had to be limited.
6. Shooting is enjoyed by young and old,
men and women, and the disabled.
7. Target shooting is a very popular Olympic
and Paralympic discipline. Its first Royal patron was Queen Victoria.
Of our 12 Associations, two have HM The Queen as Patron (one with
HRH The Prince of Wales as President), a third has HRH The Duke
of Edinburgh.
8. Hunting with firearms is a £1.6
billion industry, supporting 70,000 jobs, (2006 PACEC Report).
Shooting providers spend an estimated £250 million a year
on habitat and wildlife management, five times the annual income
of Britain's biggest conservation organisation, the RSPB.
9. 480,000 people shoot game, wildfowl,
pigeon and rabbits.
10. 150,000 people regularly shoot clay
targets.
11. 250,000 people regularly enjoy target
shooting with rifles, muzzle loading pistols and airguns.
12. C. 1,000 clubs are affiliated to the
NSRA, the NRA has over 700 affiliated clubs and the Clay Pigeon
Shooting Association has c. 420 affiliated clubs. There are at
least 1,000 unaffiliated clubs. This bespeaks a flourishing sport.
13. 23 of the UK's 116 medals in the 2006 Commonwealth
Games were for shooting. Only swimming exceeded this with 24.
Double trap shooter Richard Faulds MBE won gold for Great Britain
at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. George Digweed MBE won 13 European
championships, eight World FITASC championships and nine World
Sporting championships. England's most decorated Commonwealth
medal winner is Mick Gault, with 15 medals. In 2008 he was awarded
an OBE for his contribution to shooting-with a pistol.
14. British shooters consume c. 190 million
shotgun cartridges a year.
15. Britain's deer population continues
to increase and sporting deer stalking is a well-accepted contributor
to deer management.
16. There is no relationship between gun
crime and legitimate gun ownership. For example, gun crime fell
by 6% in Scotland in 2005-06, 28% lower than nine years previously.
Compare this to an increase in privately-owned firearms, currently
at a five-year high in the country. Home Office figures from May
2006 for gun crime in England and Wales show a similar pattern.
2004-05 saw gun crime fall by 8% but the number of privately-owned
weapons rose 8% from the previous year.
17. Shooting is among the safest of sports,
particularly in the UK. According to UN statistics, the UK figure
for accidental firearms fatalities is one of the lowest at 0.02
per 100,000, a figure which includes military and police fatalities.
In England and Wales twice as many people are hospitalised by
mishaps with cotton buds than accidents with guns.
18. The British Association for Shooting
and Conservation provides the following insurance cover for all
shooting categories to all its members: £10 million Legal
Liability Cover, £10 million Employer Liability Cover and
£10 million Product Liability cover at a cost of c. £10.50
a member. Both the CPSA and the NSRA provide similar insurance
schemes. So much cover for so small a premium demonstrates the
inherent safety of the sport.
THE USE
OF LEGALLY-HELD
GUNS IN
CRIME AND
THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN GUN
CONTROL AND
GUN CRIME
19. Until very recently, with the creation
of NaBIS (the National Ballistics Intelligence Service) little
good quality data has been available. Such official statistics
as have been published, for instance "Firearms homicide-circumstances
of offence by whether firearms legally held" (1995-97), show
a very low level of misuse of legally held firearms. For the seven
years covered, no legally-held firearms were identified
as having been used in the category "Organised crime, drugs
related, contract killings, etc."
20. The BSSC draws attention to the following
written response:
Tony McNulty (Minister of State (Security,
Counter-terrorism, Crime and Policing), Hansard 2nd June 2008
in response to a question from James Brokenshire MP.
"The potential requirements for the sharing
of information between the National Ballistics Intelligence Service
Database (NABIS) and the National Firearms Licensing Management
System was examined, and discussed, in detail by key stakeholders
(including forensic and investigatory professionals) throughout
the lifetime of the project management process.
It was found that the potential crossover
between the data held by the systems was very small, due to the
very low instances of legally held firearms being used in gun
crime and the small overlap in information shared between the
two applications. Furthermore, the data descriptors of `firearms
recovered at Scenes of Crime' and `firearms being licensed' may
be somewhat different and, as a result, inquiries would be passed
from NABIS to expert firearms officers in the Licensing Departments.
As a consequence, it was agreed that any risk of legally held
firearms being used for criminal purposes was so low and the difficulty
of automating a matching process between systems that the cost
of building such an interface would outweigh any perceived benefits."
21. Statistics collected over the past quarter-century
leave much to be desired, particularly in regard to the misuse
of legally-held firearms. The potential value of official statistics
has been greatly reduced by frequent changes in reporting criteria.
To quote Mr McNulty on 25 July 2006:
"From 1986 to 1996-97 firearm offences
data collected centrally did not include reference to whether
weapons were held legally or illegally. Attempts were made between
1997-98 and 2003-04 to collect these data, but there were concerns
over their quality. There is a difficulty for the police being
able to identify whether a firearm used in an offence was legally
or illegally held, particularly if that firearm was not retrieved.
As a result the data from this period were not published. Because
of these concerns, and following consultation with police force
representatives, the data ceased to be collected centrally from
one April 2004."
22. The creation and analysis of a database
of all recovered firearms was long championed by shooting representatives,
despite official indifference. The growth of gun crime strengthened
our case, however, and we hope that the deliberations of the Committee
will be facilitated by clear and accurate data from NaBIS and
that such data will be made available to interested parties.
23. Doubtless many submissions will highlight
the link between drugs crime and gun crime. The BSSC takes no
stance on the de-criminalisation of the supply of recreational
drugs, but does suggest that the Committee consider this connection
and what further might be done.
24. Firearms are simple technology and the
advent of CAD/CAM (computer aided design/computer aided manufacture)
systems has facilitated illicit manufacture. Criminals will manufacture
firearms if no other source is available. Japanese Yakusa have
supplied themselves with firearms made illegally in Danao in the
Philippines. When police and customs activity made import more
difficult, they invited Philippino gun-makers over for working
holidays in Japan. Firearms availability is a matter of supply
and demand, and success is more likely to come from reducing criminal
demand, an approach already actively pursued to reduce knife crime,
since a few hundred guns and a few thousand cartridges would keep
Britain's criminals going for many years. Illegal import will
never be entirely stemmed and it may be more cost-effective to
educate potential or former perpetrators than to pursue small
numbers of firearms. The recent Channel 4 Dispatches programme
"Gun Runners" made play with the recovery of seven pistols
and 1,200 rounds of ammunition illegally imported from Holland
during "Operation Greengage". This modest recovery was
an unplanned benefit from a major international operation
targeting illegal drugs. Fifteen other "runs" by the
gang had not been stopped.
25. We understand that hundreds of Russian
"Baikal" gas pistols, converted to fire conventional
.380 ammunition, have been illegally imported into this country.
Perhaps NaBIS could comment on this.
26. Besides being intended to prevent the
access of criminals to firearms through legal channels, firearms
legislation is an enabling mechanism to facilitate access to and
use of firearms by law-abiding citizens. This function should
focus on the person, not the gun, and should be structured to
minimise bureaucracy and free police resources for other activities.
THE FITNESS
FOR PURPOSE
OF CURRENT
LAWS GOVERNING
FIREARMS
27. The present much amended legislation
is difficult to use. A consolidating Act, which would have considerable
practicable benefits for day-to-day administration, would be more
cost-effective. A number of useful minor changes already proposed
by ACPO would simplify the law and make it easier to administer.
These could be achieved by a Regulatory Reform Order.
28. In contradistinction to a consolidating
Act, this Council would not now support a full review of legislation
as it would be "incident-led". This has resulted in
ineffective and misdirected legislation, for instance Dangerous
Dogs legislation and the 1997 Firearms (Amendment) Acts. Any aspect
of potential legislative change that can be established as relevant
to the shootings in Cumbria should be considered first.
29. This Council would wish to be involved
in detailed discussion of any proposed change to the law, its
administration, or guidance on its application.
IMPROVEMENT OF
INFORMATION-SHARING
BETWEEN MEDICS
AND THE
POLICE
30. Since before the Cumbria shootings,
the BSSC has been discussing tagging of medical records. Little
progress has been made because concerns about security, confidentiality
and effectiveness have not been allayed. A robust set of guidelines
for GPs would be essential. The Council notes the BMA's recent
website statement that "Doctors must make it clear that they
are in no position to judge the `future dangerousness' of any
applicant." It also notes the lamentable inability of trained
professionals to detect child abuse in recent high-profile cases.
31. The NHS employs 1.5 million people and
an estimated 300,000 might have access to tagged records. Can
this data ever be secure?
32. We have concerns over General Practitioner
liability and over the impact of such tagging on shooter health.
Tagging could discourage help being sought by those fearing the
loss of their sport. A substantial number of people, especially
middle-aged men, never go near their GP and this proposal would
probably add to that number. Safeguards would need to be provided
for disabled shooters and those benefitting from the therapeutic
aspects of the sport through the "Help for Heroes" initiative.
33. The number of revocations for mental
health reasons has been raised as an issue, and the Home Office
does not hold information on this. The Council would support the
future collection of reasons for revocations, provided that the
types of reason are clearly defined and the right of appeal against
revocation is retained.
INFORMATION-SHARING
BETWEEN POLICE
AND PRISONS
IN ASSESSING
THE RISK
OF OFFENDERS
WHO MAY
HAVE ACCESS
TO FIREARMS
34. The BSSC has no stance on this, but
observes that the language used does imply tacit acceptance of
the continuing access of criminals to firearms.
THE DANGER
PRESENTED BY,
AND LEGISLATION
REGULATING, AIRGUNS.
35. Airguns provide the traditional means
of training for young people entering the sport. Trade figures
indicate that about five million people own seven million airguns
for target shooting and vermin control. Violence against the person
with airguns has been falling for 25 years, despite overall
increases in violent crime. In 1983, the total number of crimes
of violence against the person was 111,000, by 2007-08 this was
961,000. Over the same period violence against the person with
airguns almost halved from 2,377 to 1,311. Over this period,
the figures for criminal damage with an air gun have increased
from 2,977 in 1983 to 10,496 in 2002-03 and decreased to
5,756 in 2007-08. What this really reflects is economic inflation.
The threshold for a record in the criminal damage statistics is
£20, but the real value of £20 had halved between 1980
and 1990. The introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard
in 2002 also changed the way statistics were recorded and inflated
the overall number of violence against the person and criminal
damage offences. In real terms airgun crime has been substantially
reducing over the years. To continue this beneficial effect
the two-pronged attack advocated by Paul Boateng MP in 1999 must
be maintained: education and the enforcement of existing
legislation, particularly Section 37 of the Antisocial Behaviour
Act which came into force in 2004. This makes it an offence to
have an airgun in a public place. It would also be sensible to
allow the Crime and Security Act 2010 to take effect before contemplating
further controls.
36. In view of the present debate concerning
firearms legislation, the BSSC considers it inadvisable to proceed
with devolution to the Scottish Parliament of powers to legislate
on airguns.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
INCLUSION IN
THE SELECT
COMMITTEE'S
REPORT:
(a) The Firearms Act should be consolidated.
(b) ACPO recommendations for a Regulatory Reform
Order should be acted upon.
(c) The collection of data on the reasons for
revocation of certificates should be undertaken.
(d) There should be no further legislation on
airguns until the effect of the Crime and Security Act has been
established, but the application of existing legislation and education
to discourage misuse should be robustly pursued.
(e) Power to legislate on airguns should not
be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
10 August 2010
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