Quote:
| Originally Posted by PeeBee I'm guessing that you also aligned yourself with our fearless leader Blair when he made a similar comment about a 15 year old girl who had just won gold for England at the Olympics. I started shooting when I was 11, have now been shooting safely for 40 years and if either of my kids wanted to learn i would happily teach them and make sure thay are safe. The ethics ofr shooting are no different to taking lobbies, crabs etc when we dive, some are for it, some aren't. Vive la difference! I'd add that I have been wild boar hunting and it's a scary game. |
Hmm... Just to show how wrong you can be I am 49 and have been an active archer since I was knee high to a grasshopper, until a year or two ago, when a shoulder injury made me pack it in. I can count as my personal friends olympic archers and world champion field archers, and these have only managed to acheive their sucess by starting at an early age and showing a lot of dedication. I don't have a problem at all with youngsters being taught weapon sports in the correct manner and hopefully they will learn to appreciate and respect the capabilities of their chosen weapon. The clubs I was involved with actively encouraged youngsters and promoted archery as a family sport, and I have no hesitation in recommending it myself. I still arrange archery have a go nights for my dive club that usually go down well.
However I think it is fair to say that the good ol' US of A does have a history of problems with youngsters and gun crime that does not exist to the same extent in this country, and I feel that this article exposes the different culture that exists over there, where an 11yo killing something with a high powered hand gun is something to be celebrated.