by Simon Wright

Created on: April 18, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I suppose if one were to be totally literal in interpreting this question, you'd have to say that air guns are neither good nor evil. They are inanimate objects and, as such, do not have conscious thought so can not be capable of being good nor evil.

However, I guess that the real intention of the question was in fact to ask whether usage of air guns is good or bad? This is a very valid moral debate and one that has been heatedly argued over.

Let's start with a basic fact about guns. Guns, whether we're talking about a rifle, shotgun, or air gun are designed to deliver an object at rapid speeds and if a human or animal finds itself in the path of the shot, damage is going to occur and (in some cases) death.

We can argue that sometimes guns are used in sport where no-one or no thing gets hurt. The Olympics, after all, has shooting competitions where contestants shoot at a target. I really don't have a problem with that kind of shooting, provided that the guns used for it are securely held on the premises of shooting clubs and aren't allowed outside of those premises. In the UK, rules relating to guns used by shooting clubs were significantly tightened after a number of fatal gun rampages.

If we go beyond shooting clubs and their purpose of facilitating target practice in a gun range, then I am entirely opposed to the ownership of any guns. Air guns may not be quite as deadly as some other guns but they can still be deadly. There was a case in Scotland in recent years where a toddler was killed after a stray air gun shot hit the toddler in the head. Additionally, of course, we regularly hear horror stories about bored and psychopathic teenagers killing families' pets, all in the name of having fun.

I talked at the start of this article about how guns are inanimate objects and, as such, moral tags such as good' or evil' can't be ascribed to them. Such tags are apt though in relation to the person who uses the gun. I imagine that some of the people who argue that air guns are good will use this to say that the majority of gun owners are good responsible people who would never dream of pointing their gun at a person or animal. That's fine but of little solace to someone who's lost a child or a beloved pet. The possessor of the gun doesn't even need to have evil in his (or her) mind for an evil' result to occur. Accidents happen and the combination of kids and guns is just asking for trouble.

I can't see any valid reason to allow people (especially kids or teenagers) to own air guns. If they want to shoot things, they can either go to a gun school (where usage is controlled and supervised, join the army, or play a shoot-them-up computer game.

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