The World Forum on The Future of Sport Shooting Activities

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October 2007 Latest News

October 28, 2007

Legislation against guns may not be the answer

An article in Medicalnewstoday.com has drawn attention to a paper just published in the British Medical Journal: "Violence and gun crime", by Gwen Adshead, Peter Fonagy, and Sameer P Sarkar (BMJ 2007;335:837). The authors are a team, headed by forensic psychotherapist Gwen Adshead.

The paper focuses on the disenfranchised young men whose activities lie at the heart of British gun crime, carried out in a nation where handguns have been totally and ineffectually banned. The theme of social disconnection and unregulated feelings of negativity against the broader society are said to be keys in the lead-up to violence, greatly increasing the risk of it.

According to the authors, most interventions fail through lack of engagement at family level and instead concentrate too broadly, on communities and schools.

The paper suggests instead that more is to be gained by switching the focus to the mental health of a small number of children who begin to show signs of a high potential of turning to violence. The large majority of children are not at risk of this behaviour, and so better application in this area and less reliance on legislation against guns may bring a worthwhile return.



Conference Title

An international WFSA-sponsored symposium, entitled “Workshop on Shooting Ranges: Lead Reclamation, Sound Attenuation, Backstop Construction”, was held in Palermo, Italy on October 2-3, 2007. There were 30 participants from nine countries, including the world’s leading authorities on shooting range design and management.

Experts on the environmental conditions of shooting ranges made presentations related to the management of lead, sound and projectile containment. The meeting gave an overview of the latest technologies, innovations and developments in various countries.
Conference panel

The conference explored several areas. Lead reclamation is under continuing research. There are now accepted protocols for sound mitigation. Bullet backstops have become very effective and there are many technological developments.

The proceedings are to be published.

October 2, 2007

North American study results: hunters' contribution

The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation of America (CSF) has released a report showing that Americans spend more than $76 billion annually on hunting and fishing.

The report is the result of the CSF's study of the official figures of the Fish and Wildlife Service's National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. It places the outdoors community into one of the largest and most influential economic demographics.

A statement from the National Shooting Sports Foundation President Doug Painter said that hunting alone puts $23 billion into the American economy, with extensive benefits going to business and wildlife conservation alike.



October 1, 2007

Further push for international arms treaty

An article by Associated Press has nominated Britain, Japan and Australia as leading a push at the United Nations for a binding treaty to increase the regulation of the international arms trade.

Officially such a plan would aim to set increased standards for the import and export of firearms. In December, 2006 the vote was taken with an overwhelming majority in the General Assembly to proceed with the next step towards such a treaty. The United States stood against it. Now, a spokesman for the US Secretary of State has said that no decision has been made by the US as to whether it will become involved in the review. Other nations including Russia and China have been less than wholehearted in their support for the continuing proceedings.

The aim centres on reduction of the arms flow to nations especially in Africa where lawlessness is perceived to be fed by uncontrolled transfers of small arms. Britain alone exports arms to the tune of $3 billion per year and the economic value of the industry is not to be underestimated. However, these figures of course include munitions much heavier than the sporting and hunting civilian-owned arms which inevitably become tied up in the attempts at restrictions. Britain's own total ban on handguns has very publicly failed to reduce gun crime within its own shores.

With roughly sixty per cent of the world's small arms in the hands of law-abiding civilians, the US is one nation which continues to express concern that attempts at restriction of the illicit trade have historically failed to stop the flow of illegal arms in the world's troubled areas. At the same time such laws have continued to make it harder for legitimate civilian owners to go about their business. Sporting arms exporters on the whole face very considerable regulations under the present conditions.

It is expected that a Group of Government Experts will soon be formed to review governmental submissions on the issue.

The Globe and Mail -- Canada


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