Becoming an informant

Every time you go out shooting you must tell the police where, when and who you are with, according to the Hertfordshire Constabulary. A letter sent to an ST reader by the county?s police force states: You are not under any obligation to inform us when you shoot, however, we do appreciate the fact that you do, as it could save an unnecessary deployment of a firearms team because members of the public report that shots are fired.

The letter goes on to state that when calling the police you must be able to give them the following details: names of people involved in the shoot, telephone numbers, start and finish times, types of firearms being used, the make, model and registration of vehicles and the location that you are shooting at, as well as details of permission or landownership.

Mike Eveleigh, firearms officer for BASC, commented: ?Speaking as an ex- policeman, if shots are reported, regardless of whether they think they know who has fired them, they must send someone to check. It may be poachers for instance. As well as that, all the information they would require for each shoot would take hours to gather. Sadly, this is an example of someone who doesn?t know anything about the sport that he is policing. The member we spoke to was concerned that they would be victimised if they didn?t supply the information. It is ridiculous to think that the police want to know where everyone is shooting all the time.?