Mark visited Stourport pistol club to meet with local enthusiast and to listen to concerns about their sport. Mark, himself a county class target rifle shot, is well aware of the emotive issues that surround firearms.
“The problem is,” explains Mark “that many people unfamiliar with shooting sports see guns as deadly weapons. But in the safe hands of people such as the members of the Stourport Pistol Club, they are no more deadly than a javelin used by an athlete, or a bow used by an archer. Shooting is an Olympic sport and one that we in Britain are very good at. Yet our Olympiad pistol shots have to travel to mainland Europe to practice their art. Britain is the second most regulated country in the world for firearms and that is probably a good thing, but it is important to make sure that we do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The discipline, safety and self regulation shown by clubs such as the Stourport Pistol Club are second to none, and it is right that excellence in this area should be nurtured.”