On 19th October 2023 Robert Courts (MP for Witney) and his PA Annabel Dixon visited the Witney Rifle Club
The visit was via invite after an email to Robert regarding how the government are misusing numbers to try and change laws regarding shooting (for instance, out of 36 deaths in a one year period, 22 of those deaths were via handgun – as we all know, handguns are illegal so no law change will have any impact on these deaths).
A small display was set out for Robert, including a range of Colt 1911 pistols from deactivated to airsoft to air/CO2 to long barrel .22LR. Also a AR15 airsoft (in black), a AK47 CO2 BB rifle and a Ruger 10/22 with a standard black stock. The laws covering each category are very different and confusing. With airsoft designed to shoot people should it really be categorised as a firearm offence? If if is it, the numbers used to change laws regarding the live fire guns we use should not have any airsoft offence used as reasoning for changes.
   
After the display, Robert was taken through to the range for a quick demonstration of shooting. As the day had been designated as an open day for the club we were able to invite Robert and Annabel to have a go. Both did and thoroughly enjoyed it. Both shot a very high spec. Anschutz target rifle with a high magnification scope (thanks Paul) and a Ruger 10/22 with a red dot. Annabel shot an air rifle Air arms S510 Supersporter (thanks Joe) and Robert shot a Mossberg 42M(B) Training Rifle (thanks Cris).
After they finished shooting Trevor and myself did a quick demo of black powder pistol shooting, left to the end for obvious reasons. After the quick display, Robert went on to have a go and took three shots, hitting the target once (he was the only person to hit the target!) then Annabel took the remaining two shots.
We then moved back to the club room for discussion (this was originally planned to be in the main club but the room we intended to use had a slight issue of a ceiling caving in). Robert had already received the document that had been prepared for his visit and we discussed key areas of it quite thoroughly. He took a lot of notes and intends to make some enquiries. He is very interested in what the legal shooting community adds to a safe shooting environment and agrees that private ownership of firearms is important. Over all he was very supportive and will hopefully be able to show his support when it comes to law changes.
The visit was planned to be for an hour (19:30-20:30) but after a sharp arrival he didn't leave until 22:00.
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