I think it is fairly obvious the direction that this whole private ownership of firearms is going in this country.

The latest home office price hike of the renewal for a clubs firearms cert from £80....to £900 seems designed by intent to price out the smaller clubs and to put a major dent in the larger clubs ability to sustain itself after such a colossal fee.

As a committee member of my club and captain of the rifle team i see many newcomers to our sport and a good 50% do not get the go ahead from the police to even attend, let alone obtain a firearms licence. They are being much more stringent than they have ever seemed to be.

I was talking to one of the 'greys' at our club about this whole situation and although i highly doubt that what he imagines the future to hold to come to fruition, he was going on about 'getting rid of people who are trained with firearms on a civilian level will lead to the lack of a home guard'...as a former high ranked army officer, his world view is a bit jaded. However it seems that the powers that be would be a lot happier if private ownership of firearms were not allowed...to whatever end.

Enjoy em while you've got em.