Originally posted by Muddy Gumboots
From the GCN Proposal:



And then something from yesterday's newspaper, about a Land Rover ad which was banned for including a woman firing a starting pistol.


(full story at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...9/01/nad01.xml)

1 - 348 people out of 50,000,000? Doesn't seem much, really??

2 - Why shouldn't the ownership of guns be normal? We haven't got two heads and green skin. We're normal too. GRRRRRRR.
I read that article. Ofcoms response was appalling. I felt it was so bad that I (with my mums help) sent them this e-mail:

Dear Sir/Madam
I understand that the advert for the Freelander sport has been classified by your organisation as unsuitable for showing on television due to the use of a starting pistol in it.
While I do not have a problem with the advert being banned, I feel I must object to the reasons that your organisation gave to the press in support of the ban.
I will now quote sections of your press release.
The first phrase I would like to examine is "the glamorisation and normalisation of guns" I would like your organisation to explain to me how the advert glamourised guns. It did not feature the gun being used to get so called 'respect' by a gang of hooligans, nor did it show the woman threatening the man.
Taking this point into account, I as a rifle, shotgun ,air rifle and air pistol shooter (both through my cadet unit and as an owner of a rifle) must register my concern at the level of knowledge shown by your review board. While I agree that the use of any firearm for any crime is completely unacceptable, it is clear that your agency did not research what a starting pistol would be used for, and neither did it apparently research any of the laws to do with starting pistols. Typically, a starting pistol is used only for starting sporting events (ie. the Olympic athletics)I have never heard of the affore mentioned pistols being used for crime. If, however, you have evidence that they have, I would be more than happy to accept it if you were willing to show your evidence. I presume if you do have any such evidence you made it clear in your press release, and that the source of the article merely edited it out (The Daily Telegraph). I also assume, that if the pistols have been used for crime, that there must be some licensing system that I am not aware of, and nor, according to the 2002 firearm reccomendations to the police, are the police forces throughout the country.
You also state that "The domestic setting, together with the gun simply lying in a drawer." As an owner and user of various licensed firearms, I can assure you that if the starting pistol required a licence, that the pistol would not be in a drawer. Indeed, our armoury has a level of security comparable to a bank. However, the pistol was featured in the drawer, because the advert makers had obviously conducted research into the licensing systems.
I believe that your press release took advantage of the fact that people have legitimate concerns about gun crime, which I find acceptable. What I do NOT find acceptable, however, is the fact that your press release contained the phrase "normalised the ownership of guns." I would like some clarification of why, as a responsible firearm owner myself, I am not normal, or why my use and interest in firearms is not normal. I am a student in full-time education, and come from a hardworking family that is perfectly respectable. I believe that if the advert had used a religious or sexual symbol in it, then you would not have said something akin to your comment. Can you honestly say to me that you would have included in your press release a phrase like "normalised the pagan religon" or "normalised homosexuality".
I believe that your statement was unfair and simply re-inforced the general publics view that all firearm owners/users should be persecuted and have the weapons banned. Fortunately, as it happens, the government is conducting a firearms consultation at the moment, and perhaps you should respond to it, if you have real concerns, in a manner akin to the Gun control networks' manner. If you do consider their response acceptable and balanced, then I will be writing to my MP to inform him that the board is un-impartial in the way it deals with advertsing complaints.
Awaiting your response with interest,
Yours Sincerely,


Me

PS. Will you be reccomending a full-scale ban on starting pistols at all times, including athletic events?