From: "David M", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ET
ISSUE 2048 Tuesday 2 January 2001
Hoey criticises ban on handguns
By David Sapsted
THE post-Dunblane ban on handgun possession has done nothing to stop
criminals getting their hands on firearms, according to Kate Hoey, the
sports minister.
Kate Hoey: 'I have never accepted the link between legal holding of firearms
and illegal weapons'
She accuses fellow Labour MPs of taking "a very unfair attitude" towards
legitimate shooting activities and says it is an activity that young
children should be encouraged to participate in. The minister, a farmer's
daughter who enraged the anti-shooting lobby with her praise of British
winners at the Olympics and Paralympics, also reiterates support of
foxhunting in an interview in the January edition of Sporting Gun magazine.
Defending properly organised shooting activities, she says: "I have never
accepted the link between legal holding of firearms and illegal weapons. I
represent Vauxhall in London where there's a substantial number of illegal
weapons on the black market, very easily available, and I'm not sure that
the handgun ban has done anything to prevent illegal weapons getting into
the wrong hands.
"Obviously, after Hungerford and Dunblane, there was a kind of attitude that
somehow there must be something slightly wrong with anyone who was involved
in shooting. I knew this to be untrue and I thought even some of my
colleagues in the House of Commons took a very unfair attitude."
She says it is important that legitimate shooting be protected in any future
legislation. "I will continue to do what I can to show people who are
cynical and unsupportive of competitive shooting that it is a very good and
disciplined sport that actually would be of benefit to many young people, in
the right circumstances and with the right supervision," she adds.
On foxhunting, the minister states that she is opposed to a ban and will
vote against one, but she says: "I'm afraid there will be a lot of people
who have a complete and utter fixation on getting rid of hunting."
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
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