WHS bans under 14s from buying shooting magazines

[ovenpaa]

Sandgroper, a positive spin on something does wonders for revenue.

Regarding Blaze the implication is that they were also in high level discussions for the well being of the shooters however it equally could have been a passing comment whilst grabbing a coffee. The statement 'face-to-face private meetings at board level' seems like an odd thing to say.

Regardless of who did what I am pleased to see WHS have done the right thing in allowing such publications back onto the lower shelves. Incidentally has anyone spotted the Halfords advert with a cartoon kid with a gun?

[Polchraine]

The current edition of Shooting and Conservation has a small piece on the ban and in the BASC mentions the effort of various web forums to get people motivated and they certainly do not take all the credit themselves.

[karen]

Are Blaze claiming they overturned the ban??? The phrase 'face-to-face private meetings at board level' seems to indicate that.

Er what about the Change petition, the Telegraph poll and the Facebook pages? And those are just the ones I know about!

Love

Karen (who has just solved the world peace problem and cured cancer)

[Primer]

I still won't be spending my money in Smith's for a long time as I found a newsagents 100 yards from work that stocks all the magazines I normally read, even .22 shooter.

[karen]

Yep I'm never going there again either just on principle even if they gave away free copies!

Love

Karen

[ovenpaa]

The current edition of Shooting and Conservation has a small piece on the ban and in the BASC mentions the effort of various web forums to get people motivated and they certainly do not take all the credit themselves.

The point I was trying to make was BASC and others have in the past jumped up and down and shouted MEEEEE!!! When other people/organisations have also been very actively involved. Fair play to the marketing monster I guess.

[karen]

Hmmmm just read the Blaze bit at

http://www.blazepublishing.co.uk/index.php/news

Comments like

Blaze Publishing, which publishes 10 newstrade titles including shooting magazines such as Sporting Rifle, Clay Shooting and Airgun Shooter, spearheaded a campaign to overturn the ill-conceived policy after receiving reports from concerned readers.

Clearly WH Smith has been embarrassed by the furore around the initial decision, and in our face-to-face private meetings at board level, agreed that it had made a serious error.

If you come across such a store, contact Blaze or BASC straight away.

really do seem to suggest that Blaze orchestrated the whole scenario.

Maybe they did but this is the first I had heard of their involvement - I would suggest that James Reynolds petition on change.org and those of us who fought the Animal Aid lot on the WH Smith Facebook page might have had a bit more to do with it. All the NGBs and organisations were active on it and I think its a bit much for Blaze to claim they "spearheaded" this campaign.

Maybe I'll boycott Blaze too :lol:

Love

Karen

[Sandgroper]

BASC statement from yesterday http://www.basc.org.uk/en/media/pressre ... 2942C5E406

Retailer WHSmith appears to be removing age restrictions on the sale of shooting magazines in its stores after a lobbying campaign by people who shoot, magazine publishers and organisations including the UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC).

BASC members and others have been visiting WHSmith stores, emailing the company and lobbying through social media after it was discovered that till prompts were in use which imposed a minimum age of 14 for people wishing to purchase shooting magazines. An online petition, organised by a BASC Young Shot member has already attracted 12,000 signatures.

BASC Chief Executive John Swift said: “WHSmith has been unable to produce a convincing argument as to why some shooting titles were not being sold to under 14s. Their stated reasons included reference to free gifts given away with magazines, which we understand happens only very rarely and has not included any age-restricted items. WHSmith also said the till prompts have been in place for six years, but have recently been given more prominence after a series of refresher training courses. Shooting magazines contain many articles about safety, best practice, conservation and rural life and are a valuable resource for any young person starting out in shooting”.

WHSmith refuses to confirm that till prompts have been removed in all of its stores but has said that they do not apply to the “majority of shooting titles which we sell”.

BASC is encouraging members to visit WHSmith stores to see if age-related till prompts are still being used for shooting magazines and to inform the organisation if they are.

[karen]

Now thats a good statement as it indicates everyone was involved especially the young lad who organised the petition.

The problem I have with the Blaze one is the word "spearheaded" - if they had worded it like the BASC one I wouldnt have a problem

Love

Karen

[M99]

Now thats a good statement as it indicates everyone was involved especially the young lad who organised the petition.

The problem I have with the Blaze one is the word "spearheaded" - if they had worded it like the BASC one I wouldnt have a problem

Love

Karen

Out of Interest Karen - as a council member - what did the NRA do?

Mike