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Despite Shooting Times's campaign for Common Sense, police are still targeting lawful shooters
By Selena Masson
Friday, 05 March 2010
Yet more lawful shooters have been targeted by overzealous armed police
Despite Shooting Times consistently highlighting the police’s heavyhandedness of lawful shooters through its Campaign for Common Sense, two more shooters recently found themselves the target of an armed response unit.
“On 13 February, a friend and I were attending the second of our pigeon roostshooting Saturdays in Merseyside,” David Aspinall told Shooting Times. “At dusk, a police helicopter ordered us to ‘come out of the bushes’. Our response was to telephone the police headquarters immediately to explain that we were pigeon shooting legally. We were then told to wait beside our vehicles. Eventually, after 20 minutes, two squad cars arrived with their lights flashing.”
Two police officers then pointed guns at the pigeon shooters and ordered them to put their hands on their heads. The pair were given a pat-down search and put in the rear of the squad car.
Mr Aspinall added that he was questioned by the police on why he was shooting in the dark. “I told them it was perfectly legal and that I had shot on this same land for more than 40 years without incident. I also told them that most of the woods in the area were manned with people roostshooting every Saturday in February. Eventually, after confirming with the landowner that we had permission, we were allowed to go.”
The rest of this article appears in 3rd March issue of Shooting Times.
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