THE Countryside Alliance wants supervised under-16s in Northern Ireland to be allowed to shoot guns, claiming a current age limit is discriminatory.

The organisation has collected 5,000 signed postcards in support of a campaign to bring Northern Ireland gun law into line with the rest of the UK, where there is no age limit. The age limit in the republic is 18.

The campaign has been criticised by the League Against Cruel Sports. Its Northern Ireland campaigner, Fionna Smyth, described the move as “total insanity”. But according to Ronan Gorman, the Countryside Alliance’s chief executive, conditions in Northern Ireland are ideal for the change.

“All we’re looking for is to allow young people to use shotguns and air guns. It doesn’t apply to high-calibre guns and it’s only under supervision,” he said.

Gorman claims young people in Northern Ireland are at an unfair disadvantage when competing against their British peers.

The alliance’s Next Generation days, which introduce young people to countryside sports, use laser-generated simulations, but Gorman said that does not fully accommodate youngsters.

He denied that any change might lead to a gun culture. “ lots of young people in parts of the UK and Northern Irelandhave very little to do and taking part in a highly organised and disciplined sport with an exemplary safety record might be good for them,” he said.

“It was widely demonstrated during the Troubles that there was absolutely no link between sporting and legally held firearms and those used for unlawful purposes.”

The Northern Ireland Office is consulting on the issue. It wants views on three options — keeping the age limit at 16, reducing it to 12 or abolishing it.

Jim Wells, a Democratic Unionist party assembly member and anti-blood sports campaigner, thinks it bizarre that 12-year-olds should be allowed to carry a gun, albeit supervised. He admitted his was a minority view.

The Countryside Alliance will make its case to the DUP this week and Wells said he would listen with an open mind.

The campaign has received support from Patsy McGlone, a Social Democratic and Labour party assembly member, who is in favour of dropping the age limit to 12.

“I think we’ve moved into a period of peace when we can consider this. It’s important that young people learn about the safe use of a firearm.”

McGlone pointed out that low-pressure airguns do not require a licence in England or Wales but do need a firearms certificate in Northern Ireland. “We have very strict security measures,” he said.

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