Shooting Times praised in parliament

Shooting Times is the subject of a newly tabled parliamentary Early Day Motion (EDM), congratulating the magazine on its 130th anniversary, which it celebrates this week.

The EDM was tabled by the Democratic Unionist Party?s Northern Irish MP Jim Shannon and supported by the Conservatives? Peter Bottomley, and Jim Shannon?s fellow DUP members David Simpson and Ian Paisley Jr.

The motion on Country Sports reads as follows: ?That this House recognises the enjoyment brought to many from participation in country sports; and congratulates the Shooting Times magazine on its 130th anniversary?.

The magazine?s editor Alastair Balmain commented that the team who put the weekly title together were surprised and thrilled by the EDM?s appearance: ?Jim Shannon is a loyal reader of ours and we know how much he loves his shooting, but for the magazine?s place in the country sports community since 1882 to be acknowledged like this in parliament really is a great honour. I?d like to thank publicly these MPs who so kindly showed their support for our work. At a time when we have the ludicrous situation of animal rights groups telling us our magazine is nothing more than top-shelf porn, it genuinely means an enormous amount to us to have 130 years at the heart of the shooting world recognised.?

Early Day Motions are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. Although very few are ever debated on the floor of the House, EDMs allow MPs to draw attention to a particular event or cause.