London 2012



The Times January 16, 2006

Gun ban 'damaging Olympic hopes'
By Valerie Elliott
Campaigners are seeking a change in the law to boost Britain's medal
chances



MINISTERS are under growing pressure to relax a ban on handguns to
allow Britain's champion shooters to train for the Olympic and
Commonwealth Games.

At present about 100 competitors spend up to £10,000 a year
travelling to Switzerland, where their guns are kept locked in an
armoury at a shooting range in Zurich.



Members of the national squad are being handicapped by the ban,
because it means that they can train for only 30 days a year. The
ban also makes talent-spotting difficult, as it prevents shooting
organisations from arranging a domestic competition circuit for
the .22 hand pistol 25m event to identify the best shooters.

The issue has been raised by Lord Coe, chairman of the London
Olympic Games Organising Committee, but there is caution over such
an emotive matter. The ban was imposed in the Firearms Amendments
Act 1997 after the massacre in 1996 of 16 children and a teacher at
Dunblane Primary School by Thomas Hamilton, a gun collector. The ban
applies in England, Wales and Scotland.

There is a handgun ban in Japan, but the Japanese Government allows
competition shooters to own and keep charge of their weapons. A
similar plan for Britain was put forward by sports organisations but
was rejected. The Countryside Alliance is mounting a campaign for
the Government to make a special case for competition shooters. A
poll conducted by the alliance indicated that 73 per cent of people
opposed the ban.

Kate Hoey, a Labour MP and chairman of the alliance, said: "The ban
on lawful pistol shooters is damaging the chances for British
medals, but it has done nothing to diminish illegally held weapons
for criminal purposes."

A general exemption already exists allowing Crown servants, police
and military to carry small arms. The Home Secretary may also issue
certificates to allow individuals to carry handguns for specific
reasons.

A meeting will take place this month between Richard Caborn, the
Sports Minister, and Philip Boakes, chairman of the Great Britain
Target Shooting Federation.

John Leighton-Dyson, who trains the national squad, said: "We want
the ability to train on a daily basis and we don't want our guns
locked away or kept by others. We also need regional competitions.
We really need the team to do daily training . . . Anything less
than that will be a disadvantage to our team. This ban is a complete
anomaly and was kneejerk legislation."

The Government granted a dispensation for handguns during the
Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, but the rules were so strict
that some international teams lodged complaints and are now asking
for better conditions for the London Olympics in 2012.

Shooters were escorted from Heathrow under armed guard and their
guns were taken in an armoured vehicle to the national shooting
centre at Bisley. Spectators had to watch events behind screens, and
shooters were guarded by armed officers even during training.

'Always at square one'

JULIA LYDALL, 19, is an Olympic hopeful who feels that she is at a
disadvantage because she is unable to practise her sport every day.

The British woman's record holder for 10m air pistol shooting spends
four-day weekends in Switzerland to train. She said: "It's just not
practical. To get good you really need to train every day. I get
better every time, but when you go back for the next training it is
back to square one and you have to start it all again."

She added that the ideal solution would be to keep a pistol at home
or at a local range.