It's hardly a massive hobby in the UK (no, dearest Atlantic cousins, not because we're oppressed), though the shooting business is apparently worth around 拢2bn a year.
I doubt every single farmer or large landowner in the country has firearms, but many do, including my parents - so to an extent I've grown up around guns, principally air rifles (because within some limitations you don't need a license for them and minors can shoot with them), and shotguns. I doubt I'll ever win any Olympic medals, but I'm a sufficiently good shot to defend myself very well from hordes of rampaging clay pigeons!
I shot a shotgun once. The 2nd ex wanted to take me hunting. I very nearly broke my upper arm because my little "hunting jacket" was very cute and far too tight for me to be able to bend my arm at the shoulder. 馃槀
I watch Midsomer Murders sometimes, and I understand that guns in UK must be for hunting only, and must be grandfathered in order to be legal.
It鈥檚 because of jolly old England ( my Atlantic cousin) that we have made the right to own fire arms A protected right Beyond the control of over reaching government
@TexChik Actually we have it too, in our own Bill of Rights. (Although strictly speaking the text suggests that it only applies to protestants, but that's a different matter).
Firearms are also subject to regulation in the US of course, just different ones, so I don't know about being 'beyond the control' of the govt.
Still, a fair point! (And largely I would prefer something more on the lines of the American model).
It's been a long time since I have shot a rifle. I have never owned one, but when I was younger, there was many a time when I fended off attacks from paper targets.
