ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA?
Phill Price says don’t give the antis ammunition to use against us
COMMENT
L
ike many other country people, I have been
deeply troubled by the recent skirmish
between the anti-shooting extremists and
those of us who live in the real world of
farming and conservation. It appears that Wild
Justice, an organisation blighted by its
incredibly pretentious name, found a way to
scare Natural England into a panic. They
challenged this government organisation, paid
for by our taxes, into revoking the ‘general
licences’ that provide our legal right to control
damaging birds by shooting. You, me, and
every other country person knows that certain
species of bird such as my beloved
woodpigeon, and the far less endearing crow,
can cause huge damage when their numbers
grow too large.
Quite naturally, the shooting community was
shocked that ‘our’ government should have let
us down so badly, but we need to be aware of
the political world we live in. I’m sad to say it’s
a fact that a clever and vocal minority can
dominate a passive majority, and social media
only makes that truth more frequent. What we
must do is stand together and let the real,
honest facts counter the lies and
manipulations our foes employ. No matter how
old-fashioned it might sound, the truth is
stronger than lies, and we must hold the line
and stand tallMEDIA MANIPULATION
What we must never do is sink to the
despicable levels that our enemies are reduced
to, and I’m sad to say that not all in the shooting
community understand this. I’m no fan of Chris
Packham, but to hang dead crows from his
garden gate, damage his locks and offer him
death threats, is to give him a vast array of
ammo to fire back at us. I’ve had death threats,
the editor has had death threats, and yet we’ve
never responded. That would be to give in to
the worst aspects of human nature, to give up
our personal values and to become as bad as
our worst opponents.
Of course, Mr Packham was immediately on
every form of media, describing the shooting
community as moronic, violent and law-
breaking, and in some respects, he was
absolutely right. Vandalising property and
sending death threats are illegal acts. So, allthose who decided to take the law into their own
hands, hang your heads in shame. You helped
our enemy to further manipulate the media,
allowing Mr Packham again to paint us as
mindless thugs with no respect for the law. We
must always play straight and make the truth our
guiding principle. Liars always get found out and
true hearts stand out proudly in a world of
cheats.
Please, for the sake of who we are and what
we hold dear, be true to our principles, always
properly represent yourselves and our sport -
and we will prevail. What we do to protect livestock,
crops, songbirds and public health is
vital and deserves our full protection.50 AIRGUN WORLD http://www.airgunshooting.co.uk.
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