UK: Tory Lord Tebbit slammed for saying young boys should be taught to shoot (Guns, that is)

The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | February 3, 2008

[Stoat]

 

Tory Lord Tebbit slammed for saying young boys should be taught to shoot

Last updated at 11:24am on 3rd February 2008

 

Lord Tebbit: Youngsters should learn to fire guns

Conservative former Cabinet minister Lord Tebbit today sparked controversy by saying that young boys should be taught how to shoot.

 

Lord Tebbit, a keen game shooter, said that taking boys out on shoots would satisfy their need for a certain amount of excitement and violence, while teaching them discipline and the ability to obey orders.

But the League Against Cruel Sports denounced the idea as "terrible", while Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said it could encourage the use of firearms.

The Tory peer - who served in Margaret Thatcher's administration as Norman Tebbit - told the Sunday Express: "Kids should go out on shoots. It gives them a sense of excitement and kids, particularly young boys, have a need for a degree of violence.

"It is much better than playing a ghastly computer game. To have them struggling through the brambles, seeing people shoot, is much more in the interest of the kids.

"Boys would soon find themselves in a man's world and having to obey instructions."

Barry Hugill, of the League Against Cruel Sports, told the paper: "It is a terrible idea to think giving children guns will help with any understanding."

And Mr Huhne said: "Training everyone to use guns would encourage their use. Instead, we need tougher, targeted stop and search to crack down on gun and knife crime."

[Stoat]

Another Free Republic thread that may be of interest:

Great Britain Schools told to encourage boys to play netball and dance to 'balance gender'

I hate citing Wikipedia, but I'm having trouble finding an official bio page for Lord Tebbit.  This may provide some background on him for those interested:

Norman Tebbit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was unable to find a direct contact address for those wishing to send kind words of encouragement and praise to Lord Tebbit, but I'm guessing that correspondence will be properly forwarded if you send it to the House of Lords Information Office

UK Parliament - House of Lords Information Office

[Stoat]

Original article from the UK Sunday Express

Sunday Express The World's Greatest Newspaper News - Showbiz Tebbit teach boys to shoot

[TLEIBY308]

Whack em,Track em and stack em.The ability to shoot is going to come in handy very soon in the UK.

[Soothesayer]

Sounds like a very British idea. So how many school shootings have happened in Britain? Can anyone remember any?

[Stoat]

FYI

[lowbridge]

bump

[coloradan]

What? Teaching kids the ability to shoot will merely give them an advantage if they want to be warriors, you know, soldiers who have the ability to win conflicts. But there is no need for that in Britain anymore, apparently. Please remember to face Mecca five times every day, even if you aren't Muslim. (Yet.)

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Cheers for Lord Tebbit.

[Nowhere Man]

Bravo Lord Tebbit! Tell those anti-gunners where to stick it too.

[ReluctantDragon]

Interesting story. I agree 100% with Lord Tebbit. I’m not surprised by the reaction in England. They seem to have lost the will to survive.

[theBuckwheat]

I have found that careful teaching young people about serious, life and death, adult activities can cause them to make a substantial jump in maturity and the ability to accept responsibility. In short, it is a powerful maturing exercise.

My wife and I used the hobby of scuba diving towards this end when our daughter was 12. We told her this was a wonderful and tremendously rewarding activity but it was deadly serious. It can only be enjoyed when it is done exactly in accord with safe practices and full attention to detail. Should she ever show carelessness, she could suffer lasting harm. She accepted the challenge and never had a problem. She went on later to earn her Rescue Diver certification. It was a great way for our family to spend time together.

We also used firearms training in a similar way. There is nothing like teaching the joys of hunting, a joy that involves accepting that an animal will be killed. The implication is that could be you if you don’t follow the disciple and treat this for the serious activity it is.

But all this is just to challenging for the types of people who now infest education and the risk-adverse bureaucrats that we have allowed to have increasing control over our lives.

[USMCPOP]

Brilliant, Lord Tebbit.

[Tax-chick]

Training everyone to use guns would encourage their use.

Right. But training everyone in perverted sex practices doesn't encourage *that*, I'm sure. Hypocrite.

[Southerngl]

Yeah, God forbid anyone learns how to fight and defend anyone anymore!

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[Uncle Meat]

They sure don’t have a problem with mullahs telling young boys to strap on a suicide vest and go blow themselves up to kill any body they can’t tolerate in England,do they?

[Mac1]

“Sounds like a very British idea. So how many school shootings have happened in Britain? Can anyone remember any?”

ahem...the reason we lost our handguns...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre

[crusty old prospector]

Maybe to curb gun violence in America, we need “Take a Gangsta’ Hunting Day”.

[TLEIBY308]

Mac1,my ancestors came to America in the late 1600s.In the revolution we fought your ancestors,in ww1 we fought with you,in ww11 we fought with you and I will be happy to fight with you again.

[Mac1]

and...fellas, the situations pretty dire but not all bad...

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schoolsports/story/0,,2247255,00.html