On the Front Foot

Now this is interesting. The usual way that the defence of the shooting sports goes is that someone decides that instead of solving problems it would be far easier to ban the law abiding from doing something. Then the shooting organisations in the UK work behind the scenes. And then the particular branch of shooting that is under threat is made illegal or restricted in some other fashion. Then the problems that the gun-grabbers were trying to solve don't go away or, instead, get worse.

That's why I find this initiative from the Countryside Alliance refreshing. They call it On the Front Foot which offers a new way forward for shooting.

Here is the document that describes the initiative (pdf) and here is some of what it has to say:

The Countryside Alliance recognises that the time has come for a pro-active strategy to promote shooting rather than an old and failing reactive approach that relies only on defence rather than attack. Sometimes, reaction will still be necessary, but through tenacious PR, independent science and unimpeachable research, the Countryside Alliance aims to build the bricks to reinforce our house. Hard-hitting campaigns will take the good news about shooting to the public before they receive the ‘bad’ news from our opponents. Thankfully, the Countryside Alliance’s political and media teams are unrivalled in their level of experience and contacts but the post hunt ban political landscape, combined with the astonishing wealth of the animal rights movement, requires a new approach.

The Countryside Alliance’s strategy has been tailored to provide ammunition on every level for a powerful PR and advertising campaign designed to reach millions of people on a national and local level. More importantly, it will ensure that the messages we are sending are the right ones – hitting home
with maximum effect.