MPs told pistol ban “threatens London’s Olympic bid”
26th May 2004…………………………………………………immediate release.

MPs and peers have been told that the ban on pistols in Britain threatens London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics. The all-party group on shooting and conservation, meeting at Westminster last night, heard that even special dispensations from the ban for Olympic competitors would not be enough to salvage the pistol shooting competitions.

Christopher Graffius, of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), the UK’s biggest shooting organisation which provides the secretariat to the all-party group, said "Because of the handgun ban, Britain is unable to offer anything like the facilities which international competitive pistol shooters require”. The group was told that Britain has slipped from 7th place to 38th in the European competitive rankings as domestic shooters are unable to train, practice or compete in the UK since the ban was introduced in 1997.

Mick Gault, a target pistol shooter, is Britain’s most successful medal winner in any sport, with eleven golds to his credit, but the all-party group was told that he receives no media recognition, and no young people have been able to take up the sport successfully since handguns were banned.

The MPs and peers were shown the difference between a single-shot target pistol (photo) used in competition and a Walther 9mm self-loading pistol, which conforms more to the stereotypical image of a handgun. They were addressed by John Hoare, Chief Executive of the National Small-Bore Rifle Association (NSRA) and John Leighton-Dyson, performance director of the British shooting team which will compete in the Athens Olympics this year. John Leighton-Dyson said that there are £6m of public funds invested at the National Shooting Centre at Bisley in facilities which cannot be fully used because of the handgun ban, and that UK Sport is due to withdraw funding just as the evaluation team looking at London’s Olympic bid is due to begin work.

John Hoare told the group that legislation does not stop crime, but enforcement does. Since handguns were banned in the UK, gun crime has almost doubled while lawful shooting sports have suffered.

Christopher Graffius of BASC said “The all-party group discussed the minimum changes to the law needed to revitalise competitive pistol shooting. The shooting community will keep pressing for the return of legal target shooting with pistols. Logic is on our side and we must demonstrate that the single-shot pistols used in competition bear no relation to weapons used in urban drug-related crime and their use presents no threat to public safety.” ENDS
For more details call the BASC press office on 01244 573031