Shooting community signs up to the lead shot campaign

A new campaign website has been launched where shooters can pledge their commitment to staying within the law on lead ammunition.

This follows a joint statement published last month in which all of the key shooting organisations in the UK called on shooters to comply with the law (Shooting groups unite over illegal use of lead, News, 5 June).

BASC’s chief executive Richard Ali stated: “Campaigns by groups who wish to see a total ban on lead shot will use any evidence of non-compliance to support their cause. The shooting world needs to show to politicians and others that the law will be upheld. Everyone who shoots should sign up and encourage their friends to do the same.”

As Shooting Times went to press this week, more than 7,000 shooters had signed up at www.leadshotcampaign.org.uk

The campaign will receive a significant boost at next week’s CLA Game Fair, where shooting organisations will be urging fieldsports supporters to add their names to the list.

Over the coming season it is anticipated that further testing of duck sold into the food chain will be carried out by organisations such as the RSPB and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, both of which have lobbied for a total ban on lead shot in recent years.

The campaign to promote compliance will focus particularly on those shoots that include duck either as the sole quarry or as part of a mixed bag.

The organisations behind the compliance campaign highlight that: “Those who provide shooting should be aware that vicarious liability applies — that means when a duck is illegally shot with lead the shoot owner, shoot captain and possibly the gamekeeper could all be committing an offence. Significantly, DEFRA emphasises the role of shoot providers in ensuring compliance.”

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