WWW.SHOOTINGGAZETTE.CO.UK SEPTEMBER 2019 57
Gun Trade Association
I
t could be supposed that
sitting peacefully in the
Gloucestershire countryside
talking to a man who has
designed and built live
fi ring canons was a little surreal,
but as with so many things in life,
unlikely truth often greatly outfl anks
wildest imagination. Simon West,
for it was he, had previously
enjoyed a high-fl ying career as an
offi cer in the Royal Regiment
of Artillery, passing out from the
Royal Military College Sandhurst
and the Royal Military College of
Science Shrivenham, before seeingactive service in combat operations.
His specialist subjects included
gun technology, procurement and
strategic communications, which
saw him seconded to advise armed
forces and international peace-
keeping contingents around the
world, often in some unattractively
hostile theatres of operation.
Alongside his Army career, he
had been and remains a registered
fi rearms dealer (RFD), so when
his 35 years of service in the Army
came to its natural conclusion he
sought an occupation that could use
his experience and interests.Thus, in early 2018, he was
appointed executive director of
the Gun Trade Association (GTA),
heading a team of four in the
Tewksbury offi ce, representing its
600 trade and associate members’
interests in the commercial, political
and regulatory environments, while
in parallel chairing the gunmakers’
certifi cation panel, overseeing and
approving apprentice craft work and
coordinating the activities of UK
ammunition manufacturers. So how
did it all start?
In June 1891, a collection of
London gunmakers thought itThe GTA and its
predecessors have
been representing the
interests of our gun trade
since the late 1800s.