OPEN INVITATION

Phil Siddell has some tips for successfully introducing shooting sports into your family

When I was a whippersnapper, my mum, a child of the ‘60s, decreed that her only son could have any kind of toy he desired, except a toy gun. As I grew and constantly used Lego to build guns of every shape and size, she was persuaded to compromise and eventually she caved in and my dad bought me my heart’s desire, a die cast, six-shot, cap-firing revolver. My interest in firearms did not diminish and by my teenage years, attention turned, predictably, to airguns. For my mum, the very idea of having a real gun in the house was a step too far and so I waited impatiently until I turned 18, then rushed to the local gun and tackle shop to buy my first air rifle. It’s taken some considerable time, but my parents have come to recognise the many positive aspects of the shooting sports I’m so devoted to, and nowadays, my old mum doesn’t so much as bat an eyelid when I take my rifle to take care of the rabbit problem in her beloved garden.

INHERENT DANGER