Sad events of Peterlee prove that shooting sports will always be on the back foot
Three innocent people lie dead and countless lives have been shattered. Trying to bring reason to the debate that follows will always prove difficult, notes Dougal Paver.
We may never know what it was that flicked the switch in Michael Atherton's head but the consequences were deadly. After killing three people close to him, he turned his shotgun on himself and brought an end to his slaughter.
Not unreasonably, questions are being asked about whether it was appropriate for the police to allow him to retain his shotgun and firearms certificates given that it is alleged he had shown signs of instability in the past - so much so, in fact, that it was brought to Durham Police's attention.
Incidents like this are incredibly rare but bring with them a sense of dread to other legal firearms holders - of whom there are almost a million in the UK, myself included. The first instinct of the populist politician, after all, is to restrict, ban and control.
So we rely on our two principle lobby organisations, BASC and the Countryside Alliance, to fight our corner with a combination of skilled public affairs work and a focused PR machine. Much of their work is behind closed doors and they use rational arguments and solid statistical evidence to hold back the tide of control - and with evident success, if you consider the outcome of last year's Home Affairs Select Committee report on gun licencing, which was considered benign.
If a lunatic rammed in to a group of people in a car, no-one would consider banning cars - it wouldn't be fair on all other legal car drivers. Cars are far more deadly in the UK than legally-held weapons, both in total and proportionally. Indeed, the proportion of gun owners convicted each year for the commission of a crime using the weapons we're licenced for is, according to the Home Office, 'statistically insignificant' - meaning less than 0.01% of all gun crime is accounted for by people like Michael Atherton.
That doesn't make the outcome any less deadly, of course, but it tells you that the 'problem' with gun crime is not legally held weapons, but illegal weapons. Making such points stick in the media clamour that follows a tragedy like that in Peterlee can be difficult and it was instructive to look at the differing approaches of BASC and CA.
BASC's stance was to try and rise above the clamour with a short statement seeking to give the police some head room whilst not adding further heat to the story. The Countryside Alliance was similarly restrained, although added a little more colour. Both organisations fielded questions throughout the day regarding the issue.
Where they were absent was on the message boards of the media covering the story and on twitter and other social media channels - and the story and commentary ran away with itself, with no measured and factual interjection from either respected body. It was left to shooters themselves to seek to introduce a modicum of balance to proceedings.
So, whilst shooting sports' two main bodies have a good feel for traditional media channels it seems they've got a bit of work to do to respond effectively to the hugely influential 'self-publishing' phenomenon - a place where facts and balance are often the first victim.
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