Re-think needed on role of lethal weapons in our society

The Connecticut massacre is yet another reminder of the devastation and grief that can be wrought by guns that fall into the wrong hands.

Gun ownership needs to be subjected to far greater restrictions, and not only in the USA. Apart from murderous outrages that grab the media headlines, there is an increasing use of firearms in suicides and domestic rows in our own country, leaving aside the criminal fraternity.

I have no objection to non-live target shooting as takes place at the Olympics and numerous less-publicised competitions, or indeed to the professional use of guns by wildlife rangers who need to cull pest species in the interests of conservation, but I have a major problem with the way gun usage is promoted by certain NGOs and groups that class themselves as “sportspeople”.