{"id":70189,"date":"2021-07-27T16:00:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T21:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=70189"},"modified":"2021-07-27T16:00:18","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T21:00:18","slug":"70189","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=70189","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

*gasp<\/em>* Horrors<\/p>\n

Many years ago, when Jim Taylor’s youngest daughter was home on Christmas break from college, she brought along several of her classmates. One was from Merry Olde England\u2122, so when we all did some shooting at the J-T Ranch range, I brought along a No.4 MkII I had at the time so when he returned home, he could say he had shot one of the main battle rifles of his country. He had never fired a gun before, but had the time of his life.<\/p>\n

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Shock at gun licences given to children<\/a>
\nA dozen children in Greater Manchester are authorised to use guns, figures show.<\/p>\n

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The Gun Control Network said allowing children to use powerful weapons, such as shotguns, is \u201cabsurd\u201d and warned that weapon security cannot be guaranteed with youngsters.<\/p>\n

But the British Association of Shooting and Conservation says teaching children how to enjoy the benefits of responsible shooting is to be encouraged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the end of March, 12 children aged under 18 in\u00a0Greater Manchester<\/a> held certificates granting them permission to use shotguns or firearms, according to Home Office data.<\/p>\n

They were among 7,114 people in the area permitted to use the weapons.<\/p>\n

There is no minimum age to hold a shotgun certificate in England and Wales, but a child must be over 14 to have a firearm certificate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The figures show 11 shotgun and four firearm certificates, granted by Greater Manchester Police, are held by youngsters aged between 14 and 17 \u2013 some of whom could hold both types.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There is also one child under the age of 13 in the area who holds a shotgun licence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The law restricts children to the use of firearms for animal slaughter, sport, competition, target shooting and the shooting of vermin.<\/p>\n

They cannot purchase their own weapons or ammunition but are entitled to possess some firearms from the age of 14.<\/p>\n

Peter Squires, from the UK Gun Control Network, said: \u201cThe fact that children can be licensees is a ridiculous anomaly, given that children could never be legally responsible in their own right for the safety and security of the weapon.<\/p>\n

\u201cGCN believe firmly that the privilege to own and use a firearm should be tied very closely to the responsibility for its use and security. This cannot be assured with children.\u201d<\/p>\n

For anyone to obtain a firearm or shotgun certificate, the chief officer of their local police force must be satisfied that they have good reason to have a weapon, that they are fit to be entrusted with it and that public safety or peace would not be endangered.<\/p>\n

Martin Parker, of the BASC, said current legislation benefits those in training for Olympic and Commonwealth shooting disciplines and those being taught pest control techniques.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cEncouraging younger people to enjoy the benefits of responsible shooting, while teaching the principles of safety and self-discipline, is to be encouraged.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Home Office spokesperson said the UK had some of the toughest gun laws in the world, with firearm possession subject to stringent controls<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThere are strict controls on young certificate holders who must be thoroughly vetted by the police.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*gasp* Horrors Many years ago, when Jim Taylor’s youngest daughter was home on Christmas break from college, she brought along several of her classmates. One was from Merry Olde England\u2122, so when we all did some shooting at the J-T Ranch range, I brought along a No.4 MkII I had at the time so when … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gun-schtuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70190,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70189\/revisions\/70190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}